Scorpius Malfoy and the Quest for Love
by NothingSpecial9532
Summary: Scorpius Malfoy is starting his fifth year at Hogwarts with his best friend Albus Potter in tow, but Scorpius must face up to and accept some hard truths about himself and those he cares about all while desperately trying to get an Outstanding in his Potions O.W.L. A post-Cursed Child fic, expect mild spoilers.
1. No Apparating on the Platform

"Alright, son, now no trouble this year, okay?" Draco Malfoy asked, his hand resting on his son's shoulder. Scorpius had shot up a few inches over the summer holiday and was now almost as tall as his father. In their matching black, three-piece suits with emerald green ties and their matching shocks of white blonde hair they could have passed as twins waiting on Platform 9 ¾.

"Don't worry, dad. I don't plan on having any wacky adventures! Besides, I have to concentrate on my O.W.L.s this year."

"That's right," Draco reached down and grabbed Scorpius' suitcase and passed it to his son, "Are you sure this will be enough? I can always send you some more clothes if you need."

"I'll be fine."

"Will you write to me at the end of every week?"

"Every week? Dad, I'm in fifth year, I'm not a child."

Draco smirked and shook his head.

"No, you're not _a_ child but you are _my_ child. Will you please write?" He pressed again. Scorpius resigned and nodded.

The two stood together for a moment in an awkward silence as parents and students filtered around them. The children piled onto the train as their parents passed them gifts through the open windows, along with items they may have already forgotten. A sleek, black cat weaved between Scorpius and Draco's legs and up into the train carriage, presumably into its owner's company. The smoke cloud passing over the Hogwarts Express caught Scorpius' eye and he followed the trail over his father's head and behind his back until his eyes met a familiar sight.

"Alright, Scorp! Looking smart!" Albus Potter called over to his best friend, waving his hand excitedly. Behind him stood his parents Harry and Ginny Potter, pushing between them three baggage trollies stacked high with various suitcases, boxes and two cages each with owls in them.

 _CRACK_.

Scorpius spun around to see James Potter standing behind him with his arm around his younger sister Lily. Both were grinning broadly.

"Scare you, did we?" James asked, a mischievous glint in his eyes that Scorpius had occasionally seen in Albus' eye too. Scorpius shrugged and James pouted, clearly disappointed with the lack of a response.

"JAMES POTTER, WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT APPARATING? AND NOT ON THE PLATFORM!" Ginny yelled as she rushed over to him, heaving the luggage and her husband in tow.

"I'm just practising, mum. Big year what with N.E.W.T.s! I can't afford to waste a single second not apparating behind unsuspecting strangers." He joked. Ginny clapped him on the shoulder.

"You're just like your Uncle George, you know that! He was always sneaking up on me and Uncle Ron."

"Who do you think told me to do it?" James added with a devilish grin and dashed up onto the train carriage before his mother could reach him. Ginny extracted her wand from her coat pocket and waved it at the luggage, enchanting it all to fly after James onto the train.

Lily grabbed Scorpius' hand and smiled warmly at him before rushing onto the train after her older brother.

"She's got a bit of a crush on you." Albus chortled. Scorpius blushed a deep red and caught his father smirking ever so slightly.

"Is that all you're bringing?" Albus mused, tilting his head towards Scorpius' lonely suitcase in his hand. Scorpius shrugged and swore he saw his father shoot him an 'I-told-you-so' look.

"We should get on the train." Scorpius chimed in hastily and Albus nodded in agreement. "Bye, dad."

Draco reached out and pulled his son into a tight hug, they had gotten much better at hugging over the summer holiday. Draco had made it a mission to hug his son at least once a day; a practice that was as strange to Scorpius as his grandparents' habit of never hugging anyone. When Draco finally released his son, Scorpius climbed up into the carriage and turned to wave to his father and the Potters. Albus quickly begun to follow suit, but Draco caught the sleeve of his shirt.

"Albus?"

"Yes, Mr Malfoy?" Albus asked, a little nervous at being singled out by Scorpius' father like that, but feeling that much more relieved having his parents standing only inches away.

"Would you…look out for Scorpius this year? Make sure he doesn't get himself into any trouble?" Draco asked, shuffling uncomfortably on the spot. He wasn't at all used to asking favours of children.

"Of course, Mr Malfoy. I'll make sure he comes back in one piece."

Draco nodded gratefully and let Albus go as Harry and Ginny waved him onto the train too. A few more minutes passed in silence for Draco with parents occasionally greeting him before the train's engine whirred to life and its wheels begun to turn. As the carriages slowly rolled past them, Draco caught sight of Scorpius sitting with Albus, James, Rose Granger-Weasley and a boy he didn't recognise. He raised his hand to wave to his son who didn't notice him until he was almost out of sight and smiled at him, quickly dropping it back down so as not to seem strange.

Behind him, Harry and Ginny chuckled to themselves.

"Something funny?" Draco asked, turning around and frowning at the pair.

"Not at all, Draco. He's a good boy." Ginny commented, waving her wand at the empty luggage trollies which begun to wheel themselves away in the opposite direction.

"He is." Draco agreed, wringing his hands nervously, a habit he had picked up over the past year whilst worrying about whatever antics his son was up to.

"He'll be fine, Draco. You shouldn't worry so much." Harry added, putting his arm around his wife and pulling her close.

"It's hard not to worry."

"I know, but trust that the boys have each other and they can take care of themselves. Plus, James is a Prefect this year and even though he's not in Slytherin, I'm sure he'll look out for the pair of them." Ginny reassured him. Draco sighed hard, turning his head slightly to see the Hogwarts Express disappearing into the horizon, nothing more than a gleaming red dot in the distance now.

"How are you both?" Draco asked the pair, the words feeling a little strange coming out of his mouth. It had been a long transition in adjusting to friendship with the Potters.

"We're good, actually we have some news. We were going to tell Ron and Hermione but they had to get to the platform early so we didn't get a chance." Harry explained, squeezing Ginny's shoulder.

"Well, spit it out." Draco said impatiently.

"I'm pregnant!" Ginny squeaked, rubbing her belly. Draco's face fell on hearing the news but he mustered up a weak smile.

"Again? Congratulations are in order, I suppose."

"Thank you, Draco." Ginny reached out and rubbed Draco's arm in thanks.

"Don't s'pose you'd fancy coming to the Leaky Cauldron for a drink, would you? Neville always offers us friend's discount; I'm sure Hannah won't mind." Harry added as an after-thought, remembering that Neville Longbottom's wife was much stricter than he about handing cheap drinks out to his friends.

"How could I possibly pass up cheap ale in a dimly lit hovel?" Draco said sarcastically, before adding a nod of his head to show that he was joking.

The three set off together down the platform towards the barrier back into the Muggle world, looking to all outside eyes a very strange trio.

"Tried dating recently, Draco?" Harry asked, the same devilish grin on his lips that both of his sons' possessed.

"Shut it, Potter." Draco snapped, half serious.

"I'm only teasing, but there is a witch down in Muggle Artefacts. I could set you up with her?" Harry continued to tease. Draco shot him an icy glare.

"Shut it, Potter." He repeated.

"She's bloody gorgeous. Nothing on you, of course, Gin." Harry added as Ginny elbowed him in the side, "I happen to know for a fact she likes you. Want me to talk to her for you?"

"Oh, please do." Draco drawled in a sarcastic tone.

Although if he was being quite honest, he wouldn't mind taking up Harry's offer.


	2. Sitting on Hands

Albus stretched his legs out and rested his feet on the seat opposite, which Rose immediately swatted away and shot him a disapproving glare that reminded him at once of her mother.

"No need to be such a nark." Albus mumbled, crossing his arms huffily across his chest and tucking his feet close together in an exaggerated manner.

"I can hear you!" Rose snapped back.

"You were supposed to." Albus replied and Rose rolled her eyes and turned back to the book in her lap. Sensing the overwhelming tension between the two, Scorpius looked around the compartment to see if anyone else would say anything. James, sitting opposite him, was staring dazedly out the window at the rolling countryside passing them by. The boy next to, Rick Hassle, was playing with a loose thread on his jeans probably trying to avoid intervening. Rick was a Hufflepuff Prefect this year and one of James' good friends.

"So, Rose, what are you reading?" he asked after another moment's pause. Rose immediately turned to face Scorpius, her eyes wide and her smile beaming.

"It's actually this really interesting book that mum loaned me yesterday! You see, it covers history from recent years and Mum says one of her friends wrote it – they had to change the names of course – and it's very personal and fascinating!" she replied, lifting it up to show him the cover that bore a rough sketch of a line of wizards and witches holding hands.

"Where was your mum? I mean, on the platform, you were already on the train when we got here."

"Oh, she had an important meeting at the Ministry and Dad wanted to go with her. It's quite romantic." She mused.

"No, Uncle Ron probably just didn't want to use the visitor's entrance for once." James scoffed, turning away from the window to face his cousin.

"That's not true! He can still use the regular entrance because he was an Auror!" Rose protested, leaning across Rick to shout at James.

"Yeah, like 10 years ago! And Dad said he was a bloody nightmare anyway, always misfiring spells when they were hunting down some Dark Wizard."

Rose huffed loudly, closed her book and stormed out of the compartment in search of her other friends.

"Rose!" Scorpius called after her feebly but stayed firmly planted in his seat.

"James, mate, you're my friend and everything but sometimes you can be a real git." Rick said, putting his hands behind his head and stretching out.

"It's the truth! Sometimes the truth hurts." James shrugged, absolving himself of all guilt.

"I repeat: you can be a real git." Rick affirmed, getting to his feet, "Anyway, we should probably do a sweep of the carriages make sure everyone's settled in, check on the first years."

"Good idea. Bloody hard work this, being a Prefect. As I recall, you spent the majority of our first Hogwarts Express ride crying your eyes out until some blonde-haired, tight-bloused Prefect put her arms around you." James teased, also getting up and following Rick out of the compartment doors.

From down the corridor, Scorpius could hear Rick scolding James.

"Maybe you'll get a chance to apologise to your cousin, you foul git."

"I like how he didn't even acknowledge us. Once we leave Mum and Dad it's like I don't exist. Same with Lily. Gryffindors, mate, pain in the arse." Albus snorted, shuffling into the seat opposite Scorpius.

"They're not all bad." Scorpius protested, he'd grown quite fond of several Gryffindors in his Potions class last year after they helped him chop up some unruly Dragon Weed.

"Oh, I have something to show you but it's a little private." Albus said, pulling his wand out of the waistband of his jeans and flicking it at the compartment doors. The blinds instantly snapped down and he did the same with the window, leaving the pair in complete darkness.

"Lumos." Scorpius' wand flared to life and the tip illuminated with white light, flooding the compartment. Albus muttered the same charm and his own wand glowed as he grabbed the bottom of his shirt and hiked it up to his ribs.

"Lookit! Get a bit closer, Scorp!" Albus beckoned Scorpius towards his exposed torso and Scorpius could immediately feel his face flushing a deep red. There was a large, jagged scar along the right hand side of his belly.

"Mum did that." Albus said and Scorpius looked up, shocked, at his friend, "No, no, it's not like that. She was cutting up fabric to make a dress for Lily in the kitchen and I bumped into her and the spell hit me. Nifty, isn't it?"

"Not the word I'd use." Scorpius muttered, reaching out a hand to touch the scar and running his fingers along the skin around it. Albus was cool to the touch, his skin extraordinarily pale. Scorpius noticed that his friend shivered a little as he ran his fingers down his stomach a little further than he ought to and he instantly recoiled as Albus dropped his shirt back down and took his seat again.

"She won't stop apologising and she offered to buy me a bunch of stuff like a new cauldron and robes to say sorry." Albus beamed, by the light of his wand.

"Did you take them?"

"No, I don't need new stuff."

"Oh, you're too good for this world, you angel." Scorpius drawled sarcastically, rather like his father. At that, the shutters on the door fluttered up as did those on the window, overwhelming the compartment with light. Scorpius turned and saw a tall, thin student in a mint green t-shirt standing in the doorway with his wand held high.

"Shutters up for the time being, lads." The student told them, "Oh, Potter and Malfoy. Good to see you, everything alright?"

"Fine, Finlay, just showing Scorpius here a wicked scar that Mum gave me over the summer holiday." Albus explained and Finlay shook his head disapprovingly, running his hand through his dusty-blonde hair and then smoothing it back down again.

"I'm sure there's more to that story than you're telling me. At least, now you've got that in common with your Dad." And with that, Finlay nodded his head slightly and departed their company to go check on other students.

Finlay Ripp was to be not only one of the Slytherin Prefects for this year, but also Head Boy. It had been a long time since Slytherin had placed a head student, but Finlay was a good-hearted, determined student who – along with a girl from Ravenclaw that Scorpius and Albus weren't familiar with – would lead the student body this year. Scorpius had always admired Finlay, for the past few years even though he hadn't been a Prefect, it was commonly accepted that Finlay led Slytherin house. He was strict but fair, keeping troublemakers from playing excessive pranks on other houses and slowly rebuilding Slytherin's reputation.

"He's a good bloke, isn't he?" Albus mused. He was fiddling with his wand, trying to turn off the Lumos charm.

"He is." Scorpius agreed, "Nox." He added pointedly, the light on his own wand dimming out. Albus looked a little guilty at not remembering such a simple spell and quickly muttered the incantation.

"D'you reckon I'll be Head Boy? You know, Slytherin could be on a roll." Albus asked and Scorpius chuckled.

"Not even! If James wasn't Head Boy, you've got no chance! Me on the other hand." Scorpius pondered, briefly losing himself in thought at the idea of being Head Boy.

"No way, can you possibly imagine yourself bossing around a bunch of first years? You'd be completely useless at doing that." Albus scoffed. Scorpius half-agreed with him, he was still one of the timid members of his house and couldn't really see himself commanding the same authority that Finlay did so effortlessly.

The pair chatted a little about what they had gotten up to over the summer holidays, Scorpius was impressed that the Potters had gone for a getaway in France with Harry leading them expertly through all the Muggle attractions. Albus retrieved a photo of the entire family along with Ted Lupin smiling in front of the Eiffel Tower. When Scorpius mused that he would love to see it, Albus promised to take him once they left Hogwarts.

Scorpius' own summer had been much less eventful, he and his father had spent a few weeks redecorating in Malfoy Manor and making it seem a little homelier. They had repainted the majority of the rooms a light green colour to replace the grim black that had dominated the building and switched some of the more imposing, dated furniture with modern comforts. Draco had refused to change anything about his own bedroom, although he and Scorpius had entered it for the first time since Astoria had died. They performed a few basic cleaning spells on the carpet and the dressers, although Draco had insisted they leave the bed unmade as it had been the final time his wife had climbed out of it.

Rose – already having changed into her robes - returned to the compartment after spotting that James had disappeared and slumped into one of the seats along with her friend Polly Chapman, whom neither Albus nor Scorpius were particularly fond of.

"What have you boys been up to?" Rose asked.

"Just catching up. What we did over summer, all that." Albus replied.

"Oh! Fantastic! Albus already knows, but I went on a trip with my family to India! Marvellous place, have you been, Scorpius?" Rose asked, a hint of bragging in her tone. Scorpius shook his head.

"Nope, just stayed home with Dad all summer."

"Oh." Rose replied.

"I didn't go anywhere either." Polly piped up. Scorpius nodded appreciatively to her. It was common knowledge that Polly's father had lost his job at the Ministry after several poor performance reviews. Draco had referred to him as a 'complete buffoon' and when Scorpius had tried to scold him his response had been,

" _You haven't met him, son_."

"What classes are you most looking forward to, boys?" Rose asked, swiftly changing the subject, "I should imagine we'll be in Potions and Herbology together again."

"I heard a rumour from Jason Tomkins that they were switching up the classes and putting all four houses together." Albus commented.

"Well how would that work? The classes would be too big!" Polly moaned, looking exasperated at the thought of all their entire year in one classroom together.

"Don't be daft!" Albus snapped, "They would obviously take a few students from each house and put them together."

"I hope they don't! Imagine being in a Charms class with a bunch of Hufflepuffs, they're menaces! And Defence Against the Dark Arts with Ravenclaws would mean we'd never get any house points!" Polly droned on and on. Albus and Scorpius suddenly remembered why they weren't so fond of her, if she wasn't making rude comments about either one of them, she was complaining about how terrible the other houses were.

"Are either of you going to try out for Quidditch this year?" Rose inquired.

"Not likely!" Albus scoffed, turning his nose up at the idea.

"It's not as if they'd even let you on the team!" Polly retorted but instantly clapped her hands up to her mouth and begun to mumble 'sorry' from behind them.

"We're not really that into Quidditch. You?" Scorpius asked back at Rose. She nodded enthusiastically.

"Of course, Dad said I should be a shoo-in for the team and if I make it he'll buy me a new Arturus 7 broom! Mum was obviously worried about my grades, she's not especially keen on me playing Quidditch but I think she's just worried I'll get hurt."

"Aren't you?" Scorpius frowned.

"Not at all! I'm a whizz on a broom, never fallen off once!"

"Me neither." Polly added.

"You boys should get changed into your robes." Rose advised.

"No way, we've got ages until we arrive!" Albus protested.

"Be it on your head if you leave getting changed until the last minute and Hagrid comes in here looking for you and you've got your trousers around your ankles."

Polly started giggling and Scorpius blushed as Albus tried to continue his protest in vain as the girls got up to leave the compartment in search of different company.

"I hate how she calls us 'boys' like we're two little kids!" Albus barked, running his hands angrily through his hair.

For the rest of the journey, Albus continued ranting and raving about everything from Rose to his Dad to Quidditch to Hogwarts itself. Rose popped her head back in a few times to keep them updated on how much time they had left. James also came by again and actually did open the compartment door while Albus' trousers were around his ankles. He burst into fits of laughter, pointing and jeering at Albus' boxer shorts with his initials sewn in. James just about missed getting hit by an angry Bat Bogey Hex from Albus. Scorpius actually though that the boxer shorts were quite adorable.

As they pulled into Hogsmeade station, they straightened up their ties and headed out onto the platform, a chill wind whipping around the students as they tucked themselves tighter into their robes. Hagrid sidled up the ever-growing group of students piling out of the train and Albus gave him a quick wave from the back of the crowd.

"A'right, first years, yer over 'ere with me. All the rest, over ter the carriages with ye." Hagrid boomed and from the crowd various groups of nervous looking, young witches and wizards proceeded towards Hagrid and followed him to where the boats would be waiting for them.

Scorpius and Albus followed a larger crowd off around the back of the Hogsmeade station building and into the clearing where the carriages waited for them, ready to take them to the Hogwarts gates. The pair grabbed a carriage that was mostly empty except for three Hufflepuff students in their third year that smiled and welcomed them in to sit down.

As they clambered in the carriage, Albus accidentally sat on Scorpius' hand and burst out laughing while Scorpius blushed and covered his face. One the Hufflepuff students sitting opposite Scorpius, a ruddy-face boy with hair cropped so close you could see the shape of his scalp, patted him on the arm and said,

"Don't worry, I'm always getting my hand stuck under people's bums." And with that Albus and the rest of the carriage fell into fits of laughter, and Scorpius reluctantly joined them as the carriage pulled out of the clearing and rolled out towards Hogwarts.


	3. Legs, Spider Webs and Mashed Potatoes

As the carriages rolled through the massive, wrought iron gates of Hogwarts, Scorpius peered out the window at the giant stone boars atop either side of the gates. The carriages continued to trundle their way up the stone pathways, bumping here and there on loose slabs of concrete and jolting the occupants within. Hogwarts loomed closer and closer and with it brought a funny sense of foreboding to Scorpius. Sure, he had always enjoyed his time at Hogwarts but approaching now he realised just how isolated everyone was at the school. Everything was contained within the grounds and although they were allowed infrequent visits to Hogsmeade, it still felt as though they were trapped. There was no way he could see his father, sleep in his own bed, wander the streets he'd grown accustomed to during the summer holidays.

As though sensing what he was feeling, Albus reached over and gripped Scorpius' wrist and squeezed. Scorpius turned his head and saw Albus' bright green eyes asking him if he were okay. He smiled and patted Albus' hand to reassure him as the carriage bounced along the path, only moments away from Hogwarts now.

The carriages trundled up into the main courtyard of Hogwarts and in front of the stone steps that would lead them through to the Great Hall. At the bottom of the steps stood Professor Neville Longbottom. He wore bright maroon robes with yellow accents around the collar and wrists, making him look rather like a large sweet wrapper. Professor Longbottom waved his hand, beckoning the students to disembark from the coaches and come on in.

"Come on now, students, get yourselves into the Great Hall. Plenty of good food tonight!" he boomed, in his best commanding voice, all the while still smiling warmly as the students passed him and said 'Hello'.

Scorpius, Albus and the three Hufflepuffs got out of their carriage considerably slower than everyone else and were some of the last students to walk past Professor Longbottom.

"Albus! I've just seen your brother in with his Prefect badge! Looks very smart, don't you think?" Professor Longbottom asked.

" _Not really_ ," Albus grumbled, "And you're supposed to call me 'Potter' here at Hogwarts." He protested.

"Oops, sorry about that. Forgot we're not friends anymore, strictly work here. You will tell Gin-your mum that I got that recipe for Pixie Dust Casserole that she wanted?"

"Sure." Albus said and with that, Professor Longbottom clapped him hard on the back.

"Good man! Go on, get yourselves in and get warm, the Headmistress doesn't much like to be kept waiting, Alb-" Professor Longbottom stopped himself short, "Potter." He added with a wink.

Albus and Scorpius ascended the stone steps and walking through the Entrance Hall, looking up as they did every year to marvel at the stone suits of armour lining the walls that had once, apparently, come to life and fought to protect Hogwarts.

"Honestly, you'll believe any old rubbish that Dad tells you!" James had said to Albus when he was much younger and had finished being regaled with stories of his father's youth. Albus had tried to argue that his father wouldn't lie about something so well-known and famous.

"Don't look at it as lying, he was just _embellishing the truth_. People do it all the time, I bet that battle was dead boring really. More of a scuffle than anything."

Albus refused to believe that final battle against Tom Riddle had been a 'scuffle' and was sure James was only winding him up to get a rise.

"Alright, students, settle down. Professor Rivers will bring in the first years for the Sorting Ceremony momentarily." Boomed the voice of Minerva McGonagall from in front of the staff table in the Great Hall. She was dressed head-to-toe in a very elegant sea-foam blue robe with a matching pointed hat atop her head, "Let's go over some etiquette to teach our first years how well we can behave here at-WILLA SNORT WILL YOU PUT YOUR WAND AWAY!" Professor McGonagall screeched at a skinny, fourth year Slytherin girl who was brandishing her wand menacingly at a group of Ravenclaws on the table over. She reluctantly stowed her wand back in her robes and Scorpius noticed that Finlay was staring daggers at Willa.

"Right, that actually leads well into my first point. It goes without saying but no fighting, especially in the Great Hall. And be sure to eat plenty of food at all meals, I don't want anyone telling me they're trying to drop a robe size. You'll all learn better with full stomachs. Also, your uniforms should be tidy and orderly. I know you think the ladies will fawn all over you, Potter, looking that scruffy."

Albus panicked for a moment, dropping his head to covertly scan his uniform, but the sound of laughter erupting from the Gryffindor table told him it was instead his older brother than was being scolded in front of the entire student body. James smiled bashfully and straightened his tie.

"Much better. Now, everyone feeling ready to welcome our new arrivals. Wonderful." Professor McGonagall held her wand aloft and swished it sideways, throwing open the wooden doors to the Great Hall. A tall, black witch with exquisitely sharp features led the first year students down the centre of the hall. Professor Simone Rivers was Head of Ravenclaw house and taught Astronomy, she was a kind witch who preferred to set her students riddles to solve instead of homework. With a dramatic flourish of her amber robes, Professor Rivers spun around to face the first years and wordlessly gestured for Mr. Filch to bring the Sorting Hat over and then took her place at the staff table, next to a newly arrived Professor Longbottom.

From within her robes, Professor McGonagall produced a long roll of parchment and begun to read the first name on the list,

"Amanda Richworth, please step forward and sit on the stool. I will place the Sorting Hat on your head, it will announce what house you are to be sorted into and you will join your new housemates."

At this point both Albus and Scorpius tuned out, the next person they knew to join Hogwarts would be Rose's brother Hugo and that wouldn't be until next year. They didn't much concern themselves with first years, leaving them to their own devices unless asked for help with directions or advice on homework.

The odd call of 'Slytherin!' from the hat roused the two out of their daydream long enough to clap politely and then drift off again. They were jolted to attention again by the raucous applause led principally by James as Rick Hassle's younger brother, Michael, was sorted in Gryffindor followed by some playful booing at the Hufflepuff table.

"Alright, settle down, everyone. No need to act like fools, even if it does come so naturally to you, Mr. Potter!" McGonagall snapped and the Sorting Ceremony resumed.

Albus looked across and saw that James had ushered little Michael Hassle over to sit next to him and had thrown his arm around the nervous first year. Albus wondered whether James would have put on the same spectacle if he had been sorted into Gryffindor all those years ago.

Scorpius simply lost himself deep in his own thoughts, replaying the events of the day over. He could remember so vividly blushing when Albus lifted up his t-shirt in the Hogwarts Express and Scorpius had been able to see Albus' belly button and his hip bones jutting out or how he had noticed that Albus' legs had gotten thicker since they last saw each other and his arms stronger. His eyes drifted down to the table and Albus' hand lying just next to him. The spindly, web-like structures of veins just beneath his pale skin stood out so vividly blue and Scorpius reached out and traced his finger lightly over the veins, walking a path down Albus' forearm to the back of his hand.

A call of 'Ravenclaw' from the Sorting Hat gave Scorpius a shock and his hand juddered and slapped Albus', who remarkably didn't even turn his head to look. On his face, a contented smile was plastered and he appeared thoroughly zoned out. Scorpius swallowed hard, retracting his hand and looked around to see if anyone had noticed him. Everyone at the Slytherin table was either looking ahead to the Sorting Ceremony or staring hopelessly at the empty plates and platter waiting for the food to magically appear. As he scanned around the Great Hall, Scorpius caught the one pair of eyes he had hoped he wouldn't see staring back at him.

Rose Granger-Weasley was giggling to herself, with her hand covering her mouth. She waved over to Scorpius and broke into another fit of giggles. Thankfully, James was too interested in the incoming newbies to pay attention to what Scorpius and Albus were doing. Or rather what Scorpius was doing and Albus was busy not noticing him doing.

The rest of the Sorting Ceremony went by uneventfully, Scorpius kept his hands to himself and at the end of it all he noticed that an overwhelming number of first years had been sorted into both Slytherin and Ravenclaw and that there had been a much larger intake of students this year than previously. His father had once explained to him that magical birth rates had exploded after the war with Hogwarts' student numbers ballooning more and more every year. As Scorpius looked down the table, he noticed that the table itself appeared to have grown in length, to accommodate more students. He wondered whether the Great Hall had also grown in size and indeed Hogwarts itself too.

"Right, everyone, thank you for your patience. I've no urgent notices that can't wait until another day so I do believe it's time to eat. Have an enjoyable evening and, once again, welcome to Hogwarts!" Professor McGonagall waved her hand and the food appeared before the now voraciously hungry students.

Scorpius grabbed some chicken and vegetables, since he hadn't eaten on the train the hunger inside had only been growing but it wasn't until now that he noticed. Next to him, Albus was clearly just as hungry, spooning mash potatoes onto his plate as he spooned even more into his mouth. Within an hour the magical dishes were emptied by the students and staff and disappeared into thin air leaving the students a few minutes to chat amongst themselves before Professor McGonagall told them it was time for bed and that the House Prefects should lead their students to the dormitories.

Finlay stood down by the entrance to the hall and called out in his soft, yet commanding, voice,

"Slytherin students follow me. First years come to the front so I can make sure you don't get lost. Everyone else watch out for them. Come on, let's go." And with that, he ushered Slytherin house out.

As Scorpius left the Great Hall with the other Slytherins, someone placed a hand on his shoulder from behind and whizzed past him. Scorpius watched the blaze of red hair turn around and Rose was pointing her wand at him, with a flick little red hearts danced above his head.

"Love is in the air," she called out, "And it smells like Scoooooooooorpius!" she continued in a sing-song manner, disappearing into the crowd of Gryffindors heading off to their common room. Scorpius swatted at the hearts above his head until they all burst and disappeared.

"Looks like Rosie's got a crush on you, Malfoy." A sixth year Slytherin boy with thick eyebrows and a rugged jaw said to Scorpius as he passed him. Scorpius swallowed hard, perhaps his classmates thinking he and Rose were involved was a better idea than the truth.

"You want to watch out for her, Scorp!" Albus said, suddenly standing next to Scorpius, "I heard she frightened a sixth year Ravenclaw boy half to death last year with all her love notes." Albus winked and chortled to himself as he followed the crowd of Slytherins off to the dungeons.

After travelling down endless flights of moving stairs – Scorpius forgot every year just how far down the dungeons were – they finally reached their dormitories where Finlay uttered the password ' _Serpentia_ ' and everyone crowded in the Slytherin common room. Outside the large glass windows, a school of shimmering, rainbow coloured fish glided by. Scorpius took note again that the common room definitely seemed larger than last year, even though it was still a tight squeeze fitting everyone in the one room. Clearly the entire school had grown to accommodate the rising student population. The green lamps on the walls all flickered to life, filling the room with an emerald light and restoring full vision to all the students inside. Scorpius noticed that nearly everyone else was looking around the common room in astonishment at the changes and the number of new students.

"Alright, everyone, listen up." Finlay called out, standing at the head of the crowd just beneath a large oil painting of a serpent that occasionally writhed and sometimes hissed if stared at too long, "It's been a long night for us all, so I'll make this short. Welcome to Slytherin house. You are now among brothers and sisters. Some of you may have been apprehensive to be sorted into our house, this I tell you, you have nothing to fear. Unfortunately, our old reputation still persists to this day but I want to reassure you this is not an _evil_ house. One of the most defining Slytherin traits is fraternity, and everyone in this common room will now look out for you. If you're being harassed by another house, we will deal with it. If you are struggling with your homework, we will help you. And if you join the Quidditch team, we will cheer you on."

"A first year won't make the team!" called a lanky girl from the back of the crowd.

"Stranger things have happened, Elcie, stranger things. We will celebrate your victories and pick you back up when you fall, but know this, I will not tolerate inappropriate behaviour. The odd prank is acceptable but there is no excuse for targeting the Gryffindors or pursuing the Ravenclaws or relentlessly teasing the Hufflepuffs. I will also not accept inter-house fighting. As I've said, we're family now but never draw your wands on each other. If I catch any of you fighting around school, I'll hit you with a leg-locker curse so powerful even McGonagall will have trouble breaking it."

Some seventh years at the front whooped and cheered Finlay and the rest of the crowd joined in, various anxious first years looking much more reassured.

"Now, it's time for bed, don't you think? The boys' dormitories are off to the left and girls on the right. Follow the corridor down until it breaks into seven doors, enter the dormitory with your year number of it. Your belongings have already been laid out at the foot of your bed. And, please, no fighting over switching beds. They're all the same." Finlay ushered everyone away with a wave of his hand and he slumped down into an emerald arm chair, pinching the bridge of his nose.

As the students filtered away to bed, Scorpius and Albus held back a moment to talk to Finlay. They wandered over to his armchair, where he was massaging his temples, looking rather stressed.

"That was a really good speech, Finlay. Very leader-like." Albus assured him and Scorpius nodded in agreement.

"Thanks, Potter, it had to be done. We get a bad enough rep from the outside, I wanted to make sure we build our foundations right, you know?"

"I could tell some of them were dreading being a Slytherin but I think you made them feel a bit better." Scorpius said.

"I hope so," Finlay sighed, "Now, you two should get off to bed. Busy day tomorrow being the first of term and all that." And Finlay waved them away to their room as well.

Scorpius and Albus wandered down the dark, stone corridor that led to the boys' dormitories and as they approached the set of seven doors, they heard plenty of noise coming from the door marked '1'. Albus walked towards it and reached for the door knob.

"I'll just ask them to keep it down a little." Albus said, his hand almost touching the door knob.

"Albus, don't-" Scorpius started but it was too late, Albus grabbed the door knob and not only did his hand go right through it but an electric charge shocked his entire body.

"Ouch!" he yelped, leaping back from the door and nursing his sore hand.

"I tried to warn you." Scorpius told him, unsympathetically, "I imagine Finlay's charmed the doors to give everyone some privacy from the other years after what happened last year."

"Oh right, good thinking that. He could've warned us though!" Albus moaned.

"I imagine he wanted us to learn the hard way. He's surprisingly wicked when he wants to be."

"You're telling me." Albus said, still cradling his hand.

"Besides, you can't hear anything inside, the stone walls are too thick." Scorpius told him as he opened their door marked with a polished silver '5'. Inside the other Slytherin boys in their year had already gotten into bed. The fifth year dormitory was almost identical to the ones they had stayed in during the previous years, it was a large circular room with tall, forest green four poster beds all along the edges. Ceiling to floor was decorated with green and black accents, various tapestries depicting famous male Slytherins adorned the walls as they did in all the bedrooms. In the first year Scorpius had noticed that a great deal of more recent Slytherins had been omitted from the walls but he was relieved to find his father there tucked away on the wall behind the door. Where tapestries didn't adorn the wall, large windows did showing the water of the lake all around them. The lapping of the current against the glass at night was so soothing that it was almost impossible to avoid sleep.

Before coming to Hogwarts, James had told Albus and Lily dreadful stories about the Slytherin dungeons.

"They tie the students up in their straw beds so they don't get up and curse each other in the middle of the night and if someone has been particularly naughty that day, the chain them up by their thumbs until morning to teach them a lesson. And I heard there's a rather nasty ghost that haunts the bedrooms and drops dung bombs on people's heads just before they wake up! And-"

"James, stop it!" Ginny intervened, putting her arms around Albus and Lily who were shaking, Lily was almost on the verge of tears, "That's not true, I promise."

"Well, how do you know, mum, have you ever been in the Slytherin dungeons?" James questioned his mother. She frowned and chewed her lip, trying to think back.

"Not exactly, but I've heard it's quite lovely. Those are just rumours they spread every year James to scare new students into begging to be in the other houses!" Ginny concluded, smoothing down Lily's hair and kissing the top of Albus' head. He looked up at his mother, fear in his eyes,

"I won't be in Slytherin, will I, mum? I won't have to sleep on a straw bed?" he asked, his voice trembling slightly.

"Of course not, sweetheart. Your brother is just teasing. You're a Gryffindor like the rest of us." She reassured him.

How wrong she had been.

Some of the boys in the dormitory had already fallen asleep, but a few other were awake and reading. Ralph Thorne was perched on the edge of his bed, dressed in lime green pyjamas, looking out the window at the lake beyond.

"What's with the pyjamas, Thorne?" Albus asked, grabbing his own from inside his trunk at the foot of his bed. Thorne turned to him, his usually rather handsome face heavy with tiredness.

"Oh, mum got them, made me promise to wear them. Only one night though, then I can go back to the usual." Thorne chuckled to himself, he had gotten into the habit in third year of sleeping completely in the nude something that either aggravated or amused the other boys.

"Well, just make sure you put the covers over yourself again." Albus warned. Thorne nodded slowly and clambered into his bed without another word. Within a few seconds, Albus and Scorpius could hear him snoring softly. Scorpius pulled the drape around his bed halfway across and begun to undress. He had recently become aware that he was still much thinner than the other boys his age, even Albus had bulked up considerably over summer and while he felt completely comfortable getting dressed around Albus, he didn't like feeling the other boys' eyes on him.

As he pulled on his old, chewed-up t-shirt for bed, he looked across and caught Albus' eye. He had almost completely undressed and was only wearing his initialled boxer shorts that Scorpius had seen in the train carriage.

"You feeling okay?" Albus asked, but before Scorpius could reply, Albus hooked his thumbs into the waistband of his boxer shorts and slid them down to the ground. Scorpius panicked and locked his eyes firmly on Albus' face.

"What are you doing?" he squeaked frantically.

"What?" Albus shrugged, pulling a pair of shorts on and covering up his lower half.

"I thought you were following Thorne's example!" Scorpius sighed, relieved as Albus also pulled on his t-shirt and sat down on his bed, chuckling to himself.

"Get some sleep, Scorp." Albus advised while clambering under his sheets. Scorpius got into bed and surveyed the room, noticing that everyone else had fallen asleep already, except the two of them. Scorpius grabbed his wand from the small dresser next to his bed and pointed it at the large, myrtle lantern hanging from the centre of the room and it extinguished itself leaving the room in almost complete darkness, save for the bluish glow from the water outside. Scorpius lay down and closed his eyes, letting sleep carry him away, feeling as though he were sinking further and further down into the bed.

"Hey, Scorp?" Albus mumbled and Scorpius opened his eyes again, squinting in the darkness to try and see his friend in the bed next to him, but failing to make out more than a vague outline.

"Yes, Albus?" he asked, watching the faint outline of Albus' chest rise and fall beneath his covers.

"Have you got the Potions homework?" Albus asked back. Scorpius frowned in the dark, wondering what homework Albus was talking about before realising that his friend was clearly talking in his sleep, uttering complete nonsense as his mouth was on autopilot.

"No, Albus, I don't. Go back to sleep." Scorpius told him and he watched Albus' head go up and down as he nodded in his sleep.

"Okay, I'll do that." He muttered, drifting off again, " _You're my best friend._ " He added, before snoring loudly. Scorpius laughed to himself and whispered into the darkness,

" _You're my best friend too. Good night, Albus._ "

That night Scorpius' mind was filled with dreams of spider webs made of veins and giant, green eyes staring down at him and Albus' legs and – rather curiously – a segment in which he himself was a large bowl of mashed potatoes.


	4. Professor Gideon's Special Little Task

The first week back at Hogwarts was rather uneventful for Scorpius and Albus. They dove headfirst into class and kept mostly to themselves watching as the usual start-of-term scuffles and skirmishes took place around the castle. Finlay had been particularly harsh with a second year Slytherin boy who had decided to follow a Ravenclaw in his Potions class into the bathroom to try and jinx him. Madam Pomfrey was loathed to try and reduce the size of the Slytherin boy's tongue, an effort that took many hours and even consultation from the Headmistress. Finlay had told the others that he 'went easy' on the boy and reaffirmed that he wouldn't tolerate his students bullying the other houses. Watching the first years navigating the castle had become a fun pastime for Scorpius and Albus. They would camp out in the central courtyard – knowing that it would take them only a fraction of the time to get to their own classes given that they were privy to most of Hogwarts' shortcuts – and quite often a confused first year would walk up to them and ask 'Is this the Charms classroom?'. After an extended fit of laughter, they sent the first year on their way with directions to follow, they had even escorted one particularly upset girl from Slytherin off to Divination.

It was an unusually hot October day several weeks into term when Scorpius and Albus had decided to sit out in their favourite spot in the courtyard and watch the final dregs of confused students still getting to grips with the castle's geography. They sat amongst the long, uncut grass and leant their backs against the cool stone of the castle walls. Either side of them were great bushes with pink and purple flowers sticking out that retreated into the bush whenever they spoke.

"How long have we got until History of Magic?" Albus asked with a stifled yawn.

"Judging by the crowds, quite a while." Scorpius replied, and with a squeak several of the remaining flowers darted into the bush. Albus yawned again and stretched out his legs, lifting one up and laying it over Scorpius' own leg, so that their ankles formed an 'X'. Scorpius shivered a little; their trousers had ridden up slightly and the bare flesh on their calves now pressed together.

"Having fun are we, lads?" came the voice of Professor Gideon. He was a wise old wizard with droopy eyes and a short, stubbly grey beard. Professor Gideon taught Defence Against the Dark Arts and always dressed himself in a rather odd fashion. Today, he was wearing a black Muggle pork-pie hat, long brownish robes – not unlike the colour of vomit – and a bright pink bowtie that was affixed on an angle so that it bumped into his chin whenever he looked down.

Albus and Scorpius scrambled to their feet.

"We were just waiting before we get off to History of Magic, sir." Albus replied hastily. The Professor nodded and folded his arms across his chest.

"Beautiful day like this I can see why you would want to enjoy it! Beautiful, really. Really, beautiful. Quite unusual for October. Anywho, I have a special little task I'd quite like if you helped me with." The Professor explained.

"Sir, we do have to be in class quite soon." Scorpius said.

"Oh, I shan't imagine Professor Binns will notice your absence and I shan't imagine you'll miss that _scintillating_ class either way!" Professor Gideon said with a cheeky wink of his droopy right eye.

"What would you like us to do?" Albus asked.

"You see, Mr. Potter, there's quite an array of bottles and vials accumulated in my office. It's mostly gifts or belongings left behind by my predecessors and I just haven't the time to sort through them all. Would you mind? Anything useless you can destroy or keep, as a reward for your help."

Albus suddenly perked up at the idea of free, mysterious potions from the Defence Against the Dark Arts office. Even so, he could feel Scorpius shifting uncomfortably next to him.

"It'd be our pleasure, sir." Albus beamed.

"Excellent! Excellent! Don't worry, Mr. Malfoy, I happen to know that Cuthbert is planning on teaching the early days of the Giant Wars again today; something I believe you've covered a dozen times already."

Scorpius breathed a sigh of relief, it was true Professor Binns had already lectured them on this particular period of history over and over, owing to his increasing forgetfulness.

"Would you boys mind waiting here until your colleagues have departed for class? I'd rather you not be distracted by another staff member asking you where you're going. Got to dash, I've left the door open for you, lock it up behind you?" Professor Gideon asked, although he had already turned to leave and was gone before either of them could reply to him.

Albus leant back on the stone behind them and watched a few more students milling around, probably only a few minutes left until class started.

"Good thing we were waiting here, eh?" Albus mused.

"Albus, I don't think there'll be anything interesting in there, probably just mouldy old love potions and Essence of Slug powder."

"I don't care, there's bound to be something interesting in there!" Albus concluded.

They stood, leant against the concrete, for a few more minutes as the last remains of students heading to class disappeared. When they heard the final wooden door slam shut, they headed off down the corridors towards the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom up on the third floor. Twisting and turning, they wandered down the deserted halls of Hogwarts, hearing faint murmurs from the classrooms inside. They dashed up the stairs, narrowly avoiding being swung away in the opposite direction by the staircases' changing whims. Up another flight of stairs, they threw themselves into a tiny alcove to avoid a Ravenclaw Prefect patrolling the halls. Scorpius could feel Albus' breath on the back of his neck and his hand rested on his hip.

" _I think she's gone._ " Albus whispered in Scorpius' ear, sending a pleasantly unfamiliar tingle down his spine. They tumbled out of the alcove and walked down the corridor towards the familiar wooden door that led to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. As they got closer, a small shape in front of the door became clearer and clearer until they were standing before a tabby cat.

"Oh no, we should-" Scorpius began to say upon recognising the cat but was cut short as the cat transformed into Professor McGonagall standing before them, a disapproving look on her aged face.

"After last year, I would've thought that you two would be doing everything possible to stay out of trouble. And here you are, not a month into term, sneaking into the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom? Care to explain yourselves?" McGonagall asked curtly.

"Headmistress, we're here on official business from Professor Gideon!" Albus protested. McGonagall raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

"And what 'official business' could Professor Gideon possibly have put you up to that would require you to be wandering the corridors when you should be in class?"

"He wanted us to sort through the old potions in his office, that's why he left the door open, see?" Albus pointed to the wooden door, that was slightly ajar behind McGonagall. She glanced over her shoulder.

"It seems awfully irresponsible of Professor Gideon to call you out of class just to rifle through his possessions unattended, don't you think?" Professor McGonagall pressed. Neither of them replied, simply shuffling anxiously on the spot. Had Professor Gideon set them up? It actually did seem like a strange task to set them, now that they thought about it.

"But," Professor McGonagall added, "Irresponsible is a word often associated with Professor Gideon's actions. I will go confirm this arrangement with him at once and if you've lied to me, the consequences will be severe. Do you understand?"

Albus and Scorpius nodded vigorously in union.

"Right, go on in, get to work." McGonagall said before stalking off down the corridor, in search of the absent Professor Gideon.

Scorpius worried for a moment as Albus stepped into the classroom. Professor Gideon had explicitly told them that he didn't want anyone distracting them and he didn't want any members of staff asking them where they were going. Perhaps he would be angry with them when McGonagall found him and questioned what he had asked them to do.

Scorpius didn't have another moment to worry as Albus grabbed his wrist and yanked him into the classroom, slamming the door shut behind them.

"It definitely looks bigger when it's empty, don't you reckon?" Albus asked, marvelling at the classroom around them. Scorpius had to agree, the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom was one of the larger ones in Hogwarts. The room was lined with large windows on either side looking out onto the grounds below and heavy wooden desks and chairs littered the floor in an unusually askew manner. They had all been shuffled out of the way to make more available floor space in the centre of the room, there had clearly been some kind of demonstration in the previous class. At the far end of the classroom a spiral staircase led up to Professor Gideon's office and once again, the door to it was slightly ajar.

As they entered the office for the first time in their entire academic career at Hogwarts, Albus and Scorpius took note of how nicely decorated the office was. For someone like Professor Gideon, who was a little scatter-brained at the best of time, they had expected the office to be a reflection of that characteristic but it was rather organised and tidy. There were several large paintings on the walls, but only one was occupied by a young, beady-eyed wizard who huffily sighed and stormed out of frame upon seeing the boys in the office. Very little furniture adorned the room, there was a simple wooden desk with several papers on it and two wooden chairs either side. Perhaps the most interesting thing in the office was the large, metal-plated cabinet to the left of the door. The doors to the cabinet – each with a coiled-up snake delicately carved into them - had also been left open and inside were stacks upon stacks of bottles and vials, ranging from thumb-sized to one that resembled a Dragon Egg. Liquids of every colour shimmered inside them, but only about half had labels explaining what they were.

"Right, better get to work, grab as many of you can and dump them out on the desk." Albus instructed and filled his arms with dozens of bottles. He balanced them all precariously before laying them out on the desk and returning to grab more.

"Be careful, don't drop any. Who knows what's inside of these." Scorpius warned, grabbing his own fair share of bottles from inside the cabinet and placing them too atop the desk.

It took them several more trips from the desk to the cabinet to the desk and back again before they had emptied the shelves inside of all its contents. The desk-top was packed tight with every one they had found and the task of sorting through them suddenly seemed far more overwhelming than they had anticipated.

"I can see why Gideon didn't want to do this himself, it's going to take us hours!" Albus moaned, flicking a small bottle of green liquid with his wand. The liquid inside bubbled upon contact and he jumped back from it slightly.

"We'll just take it slowly." Scorpius said, picking up one of the larger, rounded bottles next to him. He inspected the bottle and read from the fading label, " _Goblin's Hit straight from a Witch's Ti-"_ he stopped himself short, upon realising that the bottle was clearly some kind of joke gift from years gone by.

"We can get rid of this one for sure."

"How do we do that?" Albus asked.

Scorpius placed the bottle on the floor, pointed his wand at it and said 'Reducto!'. With a flick of his wrist, a bright blue light erupted from the tip of his wand and hit the bottle, shattering it and its contents and then reducing them to a fine powder on the floor.

Albus nodded at the impressive display and got to work on sorting through the various bottles and vials. It took Albus a few tries to get the hang on the Reductor curse and a particularly harsh scolding from Scorpius after he almost caught his foot with one.

"YOU COULD HAVE BLOWN ME UP!" Scorpius yelled, grabbing a bottle of murky, green liquid and hurling it straight for Albus' head. Albus ducked out of the way and the bottle soared through the air and smashed into the wall behind him. Upon contact, the liquid inside bubbled and hissed and begun to melt the stone wall, leaving a jagged, smoking gauge. Both boys quickly cleaned up the shattered glass from the bottle and decided that they would play dumb if Professor Gideon asked them about the new hole in his wall.

It did indeed take them a good hour to sift through it all, with them saving absolutely none of the bottles that mostly consisted of joke items, except one small bottle of pink pebbles that smelled like cat nip and was adorned with a label that read 'Property of Dolores, don't touch'. The piles of dust on the floor from where they destroyed the bottles had grown to knee-height and Scorpius used a quick cleaning spell to make them vanish, leaving the room quite clean and tidy. There were only two bottles left on the desk and Albus immediately snatched up the larger of the two, which had a pinkish glow to it and shone like a pearl in the light.

"Aha!" Albus exclaimed, "It's Amortentia! A love potion!" Albus wiggled his eyebrows and chuckled to himself.

"Albus, it probably doesn't even work now. Look, the label's falling off. Don't open it!" Scorpius advised, but it was too late, Albus had already uncorked the little bottle. A puff of pink smoke jumped out of the bottle neck and dispersed around the two boys.

"Go on, have a sniff." Albus pushed the bottle towards Scorpius, who ducked away from it. "It's supposed to smell like whatever attracts you, could be fun?" Albus pushed the bottle closer towards Scorpius' nose who sighed and resigned.

He took a deep inhale from the bottle and was at once shocked by what he smelt.

 _Nothing._

It was the complete absence of a scent; all he could smell was what was around him now.

"It doesn't work. I can't smell anything." Scorpius said. Albus frowned and put the bottle up to his own nose, sniffing a few times.

"You're right, it must be flat. And you must've got your nose all over it, all I can smell is you." Albus moaned, placed the bottle on the floor at their feet and blasted it into ash.

"Is there any left?" Scorpius asked, surveying the empty desk that now only bore the stray papers that were there when they arrived.

"Nope." Albus replied, sneaking a small black vial into his pocket without Scorpius seeing.

"Alright, let's go." The two headed out of the office but Scorpius turned back at the last minute after he had pulled the door closed, "We should lock it like he said. Colloportus." He pointed his wand at the door handle but the spell rebounded. He tried again, more forcefully this time but once again the spell rebounded and the door swung open.

"Can't imagine teachers would let students lock their office doors? There's probably some sort of anti-locking charm on it." Albus offered and Scorpius nodded in agreement. They decided to just pull the door closed and leave it as it was. The doorway to the classroom, however, locked just fine.

Albus and Scorpius noticed that the corridors were still deserted as they headed down to the Entrance Hall and upon checking the clock tower they realised that twenty minutes of History of Magic still remained. Deciding that it wouldn't be worth going back for the end of Professor Binns' lecture, they pushed open the doors to the Great Hall and grabbed seats opposite each other at the end of the Ravenclaw table where they wouldn't be seen, should a passing teacher decide to snoop in. Scorpius noticed that there were some strange markings carved into the wood of the Ravenclaw table. Amidst various squiggles and crudely drawn stars were the words 'Tap your wand here to reveal this week's common room password'. Scorpius took out his wand and tapped it right in the middle of the carved phrase. At once, the carving begun to shift and twist and Albus leaned in to get a closer look at what Scorpius had done. The deep gouges in the wood rearranged into the image of a snake slithering across the table that was promptly impaled by a sword. The carvings then rearranged once more in the words 'Malfoy stinks' before dispersing into their original formation.

"That's quite an impressive little charm, if you think about it?" Scorpius mused, tucking his wand away in his robes once more.

"They even knew it was you. Wonder if a Gryffindor did it there'd be a lion there?" Albus pondered.

"Probably. Wish we had something like that at our table."

"Do you think anyone else would ever willingly sit at the Slytherin table?" Albus asked dubiously.

"Not a chance, but it's fun." Scorpius concluded, resting his head in hands. Albus patted the top of his head like a parent might to a young child.

"What're you doing?" Scorpius asked from between his hands, his voice slightly muffled.

"You looked like you needed cheering up." Albus offered. Scorpius lifted his head and looked quizzically at his best friend.

"That's your idea of cheering someone up?" he chuckled to himself.

"Well, I can't very well give you a hug with the table in the way, can I?"

"So we are friends who hug?" Scorpius asked, a sly little smirk dancing on his lips.

"No, we're friends who sit in complete silence with one another until we die." Albus said sarcastically. Scorpius shot him an equally sarcastic smile and looked up above them at the enchanted ceiling. It was crystal clear blue with a few clouds at the edges threatening to pull over and cover up the brilliant sky. A congregation of unlit candles floated around above their heads, with more and more floating over towards them. Clearly the candles had been charmed to float above the occupants of the Great Hall, but there weren't usually only two people inside so they had all made it their mission to hover above the boys. Scorpius smiled to himself and wondered just how competitive charmed candles could be.

"Can I ask you a question?" Albus interrupted Scorpius' thoughts.

"Course." He replied.

"If you could do one thing right now, right here. No restrictions. What would it be?" Albus asked, resting his chin in one of his cupped hands and staring intently at his friend.

Scorpius paused to think for a moment, he couldn't well say what he was thinking, Albus would never speak to him again if he did. He pulled at that thread of a thought and wondered if he would have the guts to do it, to lean across the table and press his lips against Albus' just to see what it would feel like. Would he pull away or welcome the gesture? Probably the latter, Scorpius thought, suddenly more down-hearted.

"Probably blow up a table or something." Scorpius replied, coming back to reality from his thoughts. For a moment, he was sure Albus looked disappointed with that answer, "And you?"

"The same, I reckon. Maybe add some more emeralds to our total." Albus said, pointing over to the tall green hourglass behind the staff table, that was filled with slightly less stones than the three representing the other Hogwarts' houses.

"Good thinking, we could do with some more. We should probably get going." Scorpius advised and the pair got up from the table and headed out the Great Hall, closing the doors behind them and found that they had left just in time. The doors to the classrooms around them swung open and students begun pouring out in the corridors, on the way to whatever class awaited them.

"You two!" Came the voice of Rose floating down the stairs as she rushed towards them, "What would you two be doing here together instead of in History of Magic?" she asked, folding her arms across her chest, and offering them a knowing smirk.

"Professor Gideon asked us to do him a favour actually." Scorpius replied.

"Very important." added Albus.

"Well, I do hope you used your time _wisely_." She teased, before disappearing away into the hectic crowd of students. Scorpius rolled his eyes and the two turned left and headed down to the dungeons for their free period.

"Serpentia." Albus uttered at the inconspicuous stone wall that usually parted to reveal the entrance to the Slytherin common room. Instead of the blocks of stone shifting apart, they clacked together in frustration and then stayed firmly put. Scorpius stepped forward to the wall.

"Sollertia." And with that, the wall shivered and split apart to show the lantern-lined passageway to their common room, "Finlay changed the password yesterday, were you not paying attention?"

Albus shrugged and followed his friend down into the common room. There were a few students here and there; some reading, some doing homework and a pair playing wizard chess over in the corner.

"I'm going to have a little nap, Scorp. Come wake me up for dinner, okay?" Albus asked before heading off towards their dormitory. Scorpius sunk into a green leather chair near the window and listened to the water hitting the glass, drifting into a deep, dreamless slumber.

"Malfoy," a voice floated into his head and Scorpius' eyes fluttered open, "Wake up, Malfoy, you missed dinner."

Standing over him was Gemma Wright, another fifth year Slytherin student. She was incredibly athletic and a beater on the Quidditch team to match. Gemma brushed a strand of brown hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear, looking inquisitively at Scorpius.

"I missed…dinner?" he asked blearily and Gemma replied with an affirmative nod. "Where's Albus?"

"In your dormitory, I think. Some of the boys said he wouldn't wake up." She replied and turned to disappear off to the girls' dormitory.

Scorpius pushed himself to his feet, using the armrests on the chair and stared around the common room. Judging by the colour of the light filtering through the water outside, he had indeed missed dinner. The common room was positively deserted, not a soul in sight. Depending on how late it was, everyone must have either retired to bed or to other parts of the castle to enjoy their evening down time. Scorpius wandered slowly down the stone passageway to the series of dormitory doors and opened their door marked with the silver '5'.

Inside a couple of other boys were sitting on their beds playing games of Exploding Snap and avoiding doing their homework for the evening. Albus was curled up on his bed, above the covers and still wearing his robes. Scorpius approached him and put a hand on his shoulder, shaking him slightly but not getting a response.

"Albus?" he called out but still his friend did not stir, so Scorpius shook him a little harder and caught sight of his face. All the colour had drained from his skin and there were heavy, dark circles under his eyes. Scorpius froze, panicked, not sure what to do. He spotted a small, empty vial in Albus' cold hand that he had briefly spotted up in Professor Gideon's office.

" _No, Albus, you idiot._ " He cursed under his breath and frantically called the other boys over. One boy, whose father was a kind of Muggle healer, pressed his fingers to Albus' wrist and then to his neck, waiting a few moments each time as though counting. He then pressed his ear to Albus' chest and then near his open mouth, at which point Scorpius had to resist the foolish urge to knock him away.

"He's still breathing," the boy said, "But only faintly. We have to get him to a teacher or the infirmary!"

Thorne grabbed one of Albus' arms and hoisted him up into a sitting position.

"Malfoy, get his other arm, we'll carry him upstairs until we find a teacher."

Scorpius dashed over and wrapped Albus' arm behind his neck and between them, they pulled him upright and heaved him out of the dormitory and into the common room, where they paused for a moment to readjust Albus. Scorpius took a deep breath and steadied himself, Albus was much heavier than he had thought and even with Thorne helping to carry him it was a difficult task.

As they were picking him back up again to resume their journey, several fourth year girls came out into the common room and immediately stared wide eyed at the scene before them, before screaming at the top of their lungs, causing more girls to flood out of the dormitories and stare in horror at what they saw.

Behind them the boys of various years also came out to see what was going on. Leading the charge was Finlay, whose eyes bulged upon seeing Albus dangling from Thorne and Scorpius, lifeless.

"What happened? Did someone jinx him?" Finlay asked, waving his wand wordlessly over Albus' body, leaving a trail of yellow sparks in the air.

"I think he drank something." Scorpius said, still holding Albus up even though Thorne had let go of his arm and backed away from the scene, "We have to get him to a teacher."

"Yes, quite right." Finlay agreed and flicked his wand at Albus, who rose up horizontally as though propped up on an invisible stretcher. "Come on, Malfoy, we have to be quick." Finlay kept his wand pointed at Albus' floating body as they dashed down the passageway and out of the dungeons. As they ran, Albus zoomed ahead of them, gliding up the stairs before them and twisting around corners as they searched for a teacher patrolling the hallways. Scorpius glanced across to Finlay as they ran past the Great Hall and saw that he was concentrating hard to keep Albus level, chewing his lip. They stopped in front of a portrait of an old, grey haired wizard in lilac robes that surveyed them with a concerned look on his face.

"Good heavens, is that boy dead?" the wizard asked, trying to lean closer to see, but being restrained by his frame.

"No, sir, but he needs help. Are there any teachers on hallway duty tonight?" Finlay asked, panting slightly from both the effort of keeping Albus floating and having ran at full speed up from the dungeons.

"Why I believe Professor Longbottom is up on the first floor, shall I get him for you?"

"Please." Finlay affirmed. The wizard disappeared out of frame at once and they heard his voice from a portrait further down the hallway.

"DORIS, GO GET PROFESSOR LONGBOTTOM FROM UPSTAIRS, TELL HIM IT'S URGENT."

Finlay lowered his wand and laid Albus down on the stone floor, sighing with relief at not having to carry him anymore. At once, he rounded on Scorpius, his eyes wild and furious.

"What did he drink?!" he yelled, grabbing Scorpius by the shoulders.

"I don't know." Scorpius squeaked, terrified of the Head Boy.

"Are you sure you don't know?! This could be life or death!"

"N-no, I don't know." Scorpius pleaded his case and Finlay released him; running a hand through his hair, frustrated. Finlay knelt down next to Albus and pressed his wand to his temple, whispering an incantation as a small white light rolled over Albus' forehead but apparently failed to have the desired effect, eliciting an angry 'Dammit!' from Finlay.

After a few more moments, they heard Professor Longbottom rushing down the stairs, his black robes billowing behind him. Without a word, he beckoned them over to a nearby classroom. As Finlay redrew his wand preparing to lift Albus, Scorpius put a hand on his shoulder and said,

"It's okay, I've got him." He pointed his wand at Albus' body and closed his eyes, picturing the levitation spell working in his head. When he opened his eyes, Albus had risen several feet off the floor and was hovering shakily. It was an immense stress to run over to the classroom and keep Albus in the air and Scorpius felt a great pain both between his eyes and in the base of his spine, but nevertheless he pressed on, until they entered a small classroom, with armchairs sprawled across the entire room. Scorpius lowered Albus into one of the chairs and Professor Longbottom rushed over with his wand held out.

"Professor, will you be alright here? I ought to go check on the rest of my house. I imagine they'll be quite shaken up." Finlay said, gesturing to the door.

"Yes, yes, Mr. Ripp. You go on, check on them. We'll handle it from here. Thank you." Professor Longbottom replied, waving him away. Finlay darted from the room at once leaving Scorpius feeling much more unsure without him around.

"Alright, Mr. Malfoy, how long has he been like this?" the Professor asked and Scorpius shook his head desperately, his mouth too dry to speak. Professor Longbottom nodded and pointed his wand at the spot between Albus' eyes. With a flash of light, Albus' eyes flickered open and Scorpius beamed, elated.

"Don't celebrate too soon, that was just the easy part. I believe he's taken an Eternal Slumber curse. Can't imagine why though!" Professor Longbottom informed him, tucking his wand back into the pocket of his robes.

Scorpius thought back and remembered the little vial in Albus' hand when they found him, it was the one from Professor Gideon's supply. Albus must have snuck it out and tried it, not knowing what it was. Thankfully, Professor Longbottom didn't press the issue.

"He has to stay alert until I can brew a sufficient antidote. His eyes must remain open." He informed Scorpius, who noticed that Albus' eyes were already drooping closed again.

"How are we supposed to do that?" Scorpius asked.

"You'll have to keep him focused on something…you, for example! Do anything – hit him, pinch him, tell him a juicy secret! Anything." Professor Longbottom replied, rushing over to a large, oak cabinet filled with tins and jars.

"What'll happen if he closes his eyes?" Scorpius asked again.

"Well, then he will fall into a slumber that he will never awaken from. A slumber so potent it is comparable to death. There is no antidote then." Professor Longbottom called over, opening some of the tins and inspecting the powders contained inside them.

"Alright."

"Just keep him focused and awake." Professor Longbottom repeated, pouring some black powder into an empty glass jar and tapping it with his wand so that it liquefied.

Scorpius dug his nails into the back of Albus' hand, instantly regretting it upon seeing his friend wince with pain.

"Ow, _what are you do-doing?_ " Albus mumbled, slumping back into his chair.

"No, you have to stay awake. Come on, just keep your eyes open." Scorpius pleaded, grasping his friend's hand firmly.

" _I'll just take a little nap and then I'll be right as rain._ " Albus mumbled.

"I'm sorry about this." Scorpius warned, before drawing his arm back and then slamming his fist against Albus' shoulder.

"Ouch! Stop… _hurting me._ " He begun to drift off again.

"Professor! He won't stay focused!" Scorpius called over with a very panicked tone.

"Oh, son, use your brain not just your fists! Occupy his mind!" Professor Longbottom advised, swirling the glass jar of black liquid in his hand and rummaging around in a bag of what looked like beans.

"With what?"

"Something personal, something that concerns the two of you alone!" Professor Longbottom elaborated, plopping one of the beans into the liquid causing it to turn a sickly green colour.

Scorpius bit his bottom lip, scrambling to think of something that would be of the utmost interest to his best friend. As Albus tried to sink lower in his chair, Scorpius yanked hard on the sleeve of his robes and was greeted by an angry mumble.

"Okay, Albus, here's the thing. Make sure you listen to me. Listen to this and then you can sleep, okay?" Scorpius said, trying his best to look his friend directly in the eyes.

" _Alright, but make it…make it quick._ " Albus muttered, waving his hand lazily in the air.

"Here goes. Albus, you're my best friend, you know that." At that, Albus patted Scorpius' hand and a lazy smile drew across his face, "And we've been through a lot. The truth is, you mean a lot to me. More than I think you know. It's just that…WAKE UP ALBUS! You have to hear me when I say this because it isn't easy. Actually it's probably the most difficult thing I've ever had to do, and that includes Professor Longbottom's essay on Rillywizz poison last year."

Professor Longbottom scoffed audibly to himself, while clanking around with various other bottles and vials as he used his wand to heat up the green mixture.

"Albus, alright, I'm just going to get it over with. This might be uncomfortable but it could very well save your life. I love you Albus." Scorpius admitted, feeling his cheeks burning red with embarrassment.

" _I love you too, mate. My best friend, my brilliant, soppy best friend._ "

"No, I really do love you. Not the way that friends love each other. Well, in that way yes, but it's more than that. It's like how my Dad looked at Mum before she died, or how your parents feel about each other. I love you. I'm…I think I'm…in love with you."

Albus' eyes bulged open and he was suddenly wide awake as a look of confusion mixed uncomfortably with hurt crossed his face. Scorpius drew back from his friend as Albus snatched his hand away.

"Albus, I'm-" Scorpius begun but was stopped by Professor Longbottom placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I have an antidote here. It's a bit rough around the edges and it'll taste like Goblin bogies but you should be cured."

He pressed the small vial of shimmery, indigo liquid to Albus' lips and he gulped it down in one, shuddering at the taste. For a moment, his eyes clouded over and Scorpius panicked that it hadn't worked but Albus jumped up to his feet.

"Well, I best be getting off to bed. Thanks, Professor."

Professor Longbottom smiled and waved Albus off, who didn't turn to look at Scorpius as he left in silence and returned to the dungeons. Neville put his hand back on Scorpius' shoulder and squeezed it tightly.

"Not like in all the books, is it? Usually only takes a kiss to wake someone up." Professor Longbottom joked, but Scorpius shot him an icy glare and he added, "Sorry."

"What you did there was exceptionally brave. Considering the circumstances, you were put in a difficult positon. I'm sorry for that." The Professor continued, smiling reassuringly at Scorpius, who had also stood back up.

"S'okay," Scorpius mumbled, getting to his feet, "I certainly don't feel brave."

"Well, you are. Now, off to your dormitory. Oh, and Mr. Malfoy, fifty points to Slytherin sounds about right, don't you think?" Professor Longbottom offered with a grin.

Scorpius smiled weakly in thanks as he bade his Professor a good night and trudged off to the dungeons; feeling as though he had left his stomach back in that classroom.

When he entered the Slytherin fifth year dormitory, all the lanterns had been extinguished for the night. As he approached his bed, he leant across to Albus. By the light of the moon streaming through the water outside, he could just about make out Albus curled into a tight ball beneath his covers.

" _Albus_ ," he whispered, " _Albus, are you awake?_ "

"No." Albus grunted and shuffled further away from where Scorpius stood over him.

" _Please, Albus, I think we should talk_."

A loud shushing sound went up from the other side of the dormitory.

"Just go to bed, mate." Albus barked, turning his head slightly to catch Scorpius out the corner of his eye, who drew away as though he'd gotten a nasty electric shock, "We can talk tomorrow, but for now, just go to bed."

And with that, Scorpius climbed into bed, still in his robes. Tears rolled down his cheeks in silence as he thought of the boy in the bed next to him, who was perhaps no longer his best friend.


	5. Snakes and Ladders

"You may come in now, everyone." Professor Wendell welcomed her students forth into the stuffy, little classroom that had been assigned to Muggle Studies. The students poured in past her and grabbed chairs at desks, with Albus noticeably elbowing another student out of one of the desks near the back to avoid sitting next to Scorpius. They hadn't spoken all morning as they got ready for the day ahead and although Scorpius had told Albus to wait for him in the common room, he had ended up trudging to Muggle Studies alone. When he tried to ask what had happened outside the classroom, Albus had rounded on him aggressively.

" _Leave me alone._ " He had hissed, eliciting some sniggers from various students gathered around them. Scorpius felt completely foolish as he dragged his heels on the way into Muggle Studies, completely ignoring the firm pat of the back that Professor Wendell gave him.

The Professor was dressed most unusually today, as she was almost every other day. Her auburn hair was pulled up into a loose bun at the back of her head and she had used several quills to affix it in place. Instead of the usual robes the other staff members wore, Professor Wendell usually preferred Muggle garments. She was very fond of telling the students something along the lines of 'I bought this dress using a magic box and the very next day it arrived at my door…without an owl! Marvellous!'. Today, she was wearing a plain white blouse with frills along the collar and a black skirt that fitted tightly to her slender frame. Scorpius thought she looked rather extravagant but she assured the class that this was regular Muggle dress for a teacher and that she wouldn't stand out in a crowd.

"Come on in, class. That's it, sit down, hurry up. We've a very special topic today, one the most fascinating aspects of Muggle culture – their relationships with one another! It might not come as a surprise to you all that Muggles actually engage in relationships – both physical and emotional – in a very similar way to Wizardkind. They bond in pairs - a man and a woman - often for life and are fiercely protective of each other! They procreate, usually giving birth to more Muggles but occasionally will produce a magically-gifted child! Fascinating, isn't it?" Professor Wendell lectured, writing the word 'Relationships' on the chalk board by hand. She very rarely used her wand in the classroom, preferring the give the students the authentic Muggle experience, which very few of them appreciated.

"Professor?" came a boy's voice from the back of the classroom.

"Yes, Mr Thorne? Did you have a question?" the Professor asked, drumming her fingers on the edge of her desk.

"Professor, do Muggles ever engage in unconventional relationships? For reasons other than having children?" Thorne asked, unusually engaged in the topic of conversation. Thorne preferred to enchant paper airplanes to whizz around the classroom and watch Professor Wendell swat them away with her hand until she finally got so frustrated and zapped them with her wand.

"Ah, wonderful question! Yes, many Muggles have relationships with those of the same gender similar to wizards and witches. It is, however, not a universally accepted partnership. That is to say, some Muggles subscribe to certain ancient religious doctrines that forbid these kinds of unions. Curious, isn't it? Uh…Thorne, you have another question?" the Professor frowned, not used to so much class participation.

"But, Professor, why would Muggles do that if it isn't accepted? Why don't they just marry others and have children as their society dictates?" Thorne pressed on, his hand still high in the air, only dropping once he had finished speaking.

Albus' cheeks burned, he was sure Thorne was pressing this issue to annoy him so he gritted his teeth and focused straight ahead on the wall opposite him.

"Well, many Muggles argue that – similar to wizards – it is a matter that is out of their control. Love is, as we know, one of the most primal forces in our world. As magical and enchanting as anything that can come out of your wand. I'm sure you've already learnt this in your Potions classes that if a wizard is accustomed to dating other wizards, the powers of a love potion would not be able to make him attracted to a witch. Of course, we're not nearly as knowledgeable on this subject as Muggles are, they're terribly curious as to what makes themselves tick. It's one of the things I most adore about Mugglekind!" Professor Wendell beamed.

"Professor!" Thorne's hand shot high into the air once more and this time Albus was sure he saw a smirk on his lips.

"One more question, Thorne, and then I must carry on with the class." The Professor clucked her tongue disapprovingly.

"Surely these kinds of relationships are counter-productive, since one can't have children, isn't it pointless?"

"Muggle medicine is very advanced as I understand but we'll cover this another time. The question of whether or not these relationships are without merit is down to the participants alone, only they can know how much their love means to them." The Professor advised, glancing around at each of the students with a kind smile on her lips.

Albus leapt up from his desk, grabbed his book bag and turned on his heels, storming out of the classroom.

"Mr Potter, come back, Mr Potter! The class isn't over yet! Mr Potter!" she called after him, but he was long gone.

Scorpius sunk into his seat to avoid the many pairs of eyes that were now looking inquisitively at him; he spotted Thorne out the corner of his eye looking rather remorseful.

As Scorpius turned out of the Muggle Studies classroom he almost collided with Albus, who had been waiting outside. Albus immediately turned and made to walk away, but Scorpius called after him.

"Albus. Albus. ALBUS POTTER YOU COME BACK HERE NOW!" he screamed, drawing the attention of almost all the students around them. Albus marched back up to Scorpius but refused to meet his eye.

"What do you want?" he grumbled.

"I want to know why you stormed out of the class like a five-year-old!" Scorpius demanded.

"I don't have to explain anything to you. Now leave me alone." Albus muttered through gritted teeth, eliciting a wave of 'oohs' and 'ahhs' from the growing crowd of students around them.

"What's the matter, Potter? Having a lover's quarrel with Malfoy?" came Thorne's voice from behind them.

Albus drew his wand and slammed Thorne viciously against the wall, jabbing his wand against his throat and digging it in sharply.

"ALBUS!" Scorpius yelled, trying to prise his friend away.

"Don't you ever talk to me like that!" Albus bellowed, eyes wild with rage.

" _I was only teasing._ " Thorne squeaked, struggling to free himself from Albus' grip.

"Albus, stop! Let him go!" Scorpius protested, yanking hard on Albus' robes but not succeeding in moving him.

"You talk like that again and I'll blow your head off, do you hear?" Albus threatened, red sparks crackling around his wand tip and causing Thorne to wince in pain.

"What's going on here?!" came the voice of James Potter from the other end of the corridor. He rushed over, elbowing his way through the gathering crowds of onlookers, outright shoving a few persistent third years from his path.

"Al, stop it. Put your wand down, now!" James demanded, pointing his own wand at his younger brother.

Albus bounced back from Thorne, who was trembling and clutching his burned throat, and glared at James and Scorpius.

"Oh, piss off the two of you! I don't need you to fight my battles!"

"Albus, what's the matter?" James asked, reaching to put a hand on Albus' arm to calm him down. Albus jumped back, away from the two and stormed off down the corridor, muttering to himself, " _Just piss off, James._ "

James turned to Scorpius, a furious glint in his eyes.

"You need to sort this out. I don't know what you did, but you need to fix it. If my brother gets himself into any trouble, I will hold you personally responsible." He muttered under his breath, his wand not-so-subtly pointed at Scorpius.

"Get out of here, you filthy vultures! Get to class or I'll give you all detention!" James roared, turning back to Thorne, "Come on, we need to get you to Madam Pomfrey." He said, dragging Thorne with him down the corridor towards the infirmary.

Scorpius heard him add as he disappeared, " _Before I finish what my brother started, you idiot._ "

Dashing down the corridors that he saw Albus turn down, he bumped into a fifth year Hufflepuff girl who looked rather dishevelled and decided to ask her if she'd seen him down this way.

"Albus? He stormed off into one of the classrooms down there. The moody git even tried to push me over."

Scorpius apologised on his friend's behalf and followed his way around to the classroom she had pointed out, a familiar one.

Scorpius creaked open the wooden door to the History of Magic classroom and saw Albus sitting atop one of the desks at the front, his back to the door.

"I swear, James, if you even try to tell me off I'll hex you-" Albus begun, furious.

"It's me." Scorpius squeaked, his throat constricting so tight it felt as though he were being choked. Albus turned his head slightly to the side and Scorpius could see the fury in his eyes, along with the familiar drying streaks of tears down his cheeks.

Scorpius stood by the doorway in silence for a few moments, unsure of what to say and as he waited there he felt the familiar sting of tears in his eyes. As the first few tears fell, Albus spoke,

" _Why did you say that?_ " he muttered, barely audible from the distance between them. Scorpius made to push the door closed, but Albus shouted over,

"No, leave it open!"

Scorpius drew his hand up to his mouth, horrified at the realisation.

"Albus…are you afraid of me?" he asked, his eyes watering anew.

Albus whipped around to face his friend, fresh tears in his eyes.

"How can I…I couldn't, you….you don't understand…" Albus trailed off, drying his eyes with the sleeve of his robe.

"Why did you say that?" he repeated, his words burning Scorpius deep in his chest.

"I needed to distract you. You would've died!" Scorpius protested, sitting down on a desk about halfway between Albus and the door.

"You could've said something else…anything else. Anything would've been-" Albus begun, sniffling into his sleeve.

"Easier? Easier for you?" Scorpius accused, feeling hurt that his friend would treat him this way. Albus was the one not talking to him. Albus was the one who had abandoned him that morning. Albus was the one who had stormed out of Muggle Studies. Albus was the one who had caused a scene in the corridor.

"That's not what I meant!" Albus tried to defend himself, "Did you…did you mean it?" he asked, his voice small and trembling slightly.

Scorpius thought for a moment, perhaps if he answered 'no' then Albus would forget this had all happened, he would go back to being his friend again and stop threatening to kill students in between classes. His mind was drawn back to the previous night when Professor Longbottom had told him that he was brave and reaffirmed it when he said he didn't feel particularly brave. Perhaps bravery wasn't about saving the day, but more being honest with those you love. Not being afraid of destroying a friendship because you told the truth.

"Yes." Scorpius replied and Albus turned away from him once more.

After several more moments of silence, sitting on their separate desks, Albus spoke again,

"I don't think we can be friends anymore."

Scorpius felt his heart break and the tears began to fall again as he fiddled with a loose thread on his sleeve, desperate to distract himself from this moment. He would've given anything now to take it back, to not feel so distant from his best friend. To not feel so alone, even though they were only several feet apart. Scorpius' mind wandered to what his future at Hogwarts would be like, he didn't particularly have any other friends at the school and then he followed it to life after Hogwarts. Where would he go? What would he do? He had always figured that with Albus by his side life would just fall into place and he wouldn't have to think too much about it. James and Lily would never talk to him again, nor Rose for that matter. Albus would tell them to give him the cold shoulder and avoid talking to him should they see each other in passing. He would have to sit alone at the Great Hall for meals, pretend that his friend wasn't lying next to him in the dormitory. Albus would probably switch beds with someone else to avoid having to see Scorpius every morning and night.

"I'm sorry." Scorpius said, resigned and he got up from his desk and turned to leave the classroom. As he reached for the door handle, a blast of red sparks made him jump away. He turned around to see Albus pointing his wand directly at him.

"So you're going to attack me? Like you did Thorne?" Scorpius asked and he took his wand out of his robes, "Here, I'll make it easy for you." He dropped his wand to the floor and it clattered and rolled around on the stone slabs below.

"I would never hurt you!" Albus replied, lowering his wand.

"You almost took my hand off! That definitely would've hurt!"

"I wasn't aiming for you; I was aiming for the door!" Albus tried to defend himself, drying his eyes again.

"So what happens now? You don't want to be friends so what happens?" Scorpius asked, scrunching up his face to avoid crying again.

"It's not that I don't want to be friends!" Albus declared, "I don't think we can be friends because I can't…feel the same way for you."

"I never asked you to!" Scorpius yelled back, throwing up his hands in exasperation, "I just want you to be my friend. That's all."

"But, I thought you wanted to be my…boyfriend." Albus admitted, feeling a little foolish at saying it. Scorpius sighed, reached down and retrieved his wand to put back in his pocket.

"I had to say something! I had to keep you awake! If I could take it back now, believe me, I would." Scorpius said.

"You don't have to lie to me about how you feel. I just…I just was surprised, that's all."

"Can we please just forget this all happened? Go back to being friends again?" Scorpius asked, stepping towards Albus, who had jumped down from his desk to face his friend again. Albus held out his hand.

"Friends." He affirmed and Scorpius took his hand, held it for a moment and shook. "We should probably go anyway; I think I scared Professor Binns half to death when I stormed in here." Albus added, looking a little ashamed at his previous outburst.

"That's quite impressive, considering he's already completely dead." Scorpius chortled and the two left the History of Magic classroom, friends once more.

Professor Binns drifted out of a cabinet in the corner of the room, having hid in there during the entire argument. He took a ghostly, rattling breath of relief and returned to his enchanted quill to continue marking the fourth year students' homework.

The next few months went by rather uneventfully for the young Potter and Malfoy, now partners in crime again. They went to class, they studied in the library, they ate their meals in the Great Hall, they even attended the odd Quidditch match to cheer Slytherin on – although Scorpius was sure Albus had only suggested it to wind James up.

One frosty morning in early December, Professor Gideon approached the two boys as he had done back in October to sort through his office. Since then, he hadn't particularly spoken to them and they had assumed it was because McGonagall had scolded him particularly fiercely.

"Morning, boys. What're we up to, today? Anything interesting?" he asked, tightening his snot green scarf.

"Divination and Potions today, sir." Scorpius replied, although he was quite sure that Professor Gideon was focusing more on Albus.

"Ah, yes, quite right. I have a job for you!" the Professor announced, licking his lips.

"If you don't mind, sir, could you get someone else to do it? Last time didn't exactly work out perfectly for us." Albus said curtly, remembering back to how he had almost died from drinking that vial of black liquid, although he couldn't quite remember why he had done it.

"Oh, that was dreadful but I dare say, that was your fault not mine." Professor Gideon added, a hint of condescension in his tone, "No, no, this won't be dangerous at all. Quite the opposite. How about it? There's a heap of house points in it for you?" he offered, wiggling his bushy eyebrows.

Scorpius and Albus turned to each other to silently weigh up their options, Slytherin could definitely do with a last minute injection of house points before Christmas rolled around. Despite their swelling student numbers this year, they were woefully behind in the tally, with Ravenclaw dominating the House Cup.

"Alright." Albus sighed. The Professor clapped his hands together giddily and motioned for the boys to follow him as he glided down the hallway towards the Great Hall. When they followed him in, the problem became apparent immediately. The enchanted ceiling that had for the past few days displayed spotty snowfall, was completely off. In places, oozed a darkness and they could even see parts of the brickwork as though the magic from the ceiling had leaked out somewhere.

"Right, boys, I just need you to climb up that ladder there," he motioned to a large ladder that scaled the entire height of the Great Hall, with a Gryffindor girl holding its base, "And tap your wand at the edges I've marked out. That should set it right in no time."

The boys looked up and saw that there were blue sparkles at various points around the edges of the ceiling.

"Professor, isn't this a job for the caretaker?" Scorpius asked, confused at why their Professor would assign them such a strange task.

"Argus? Well, what good would he be! No, no, we need magic to fix this and I'm afraid I'm just far too busy. You boys are more than capable. There's another ladder over there, should you need it, Mr. Malfoy." And without another word, Professor Gideon swept out of the Great Hall in a rush leaving them both quite confused.

"I suppose I better go up that one. You take the other one." Albus said, pointing to the unattended ladder a few feet down from Albus'.

"No way! I'm not climbing up that thing, if I fall I'll break my neck!" Scorpius complained. It was true the ladder was both exceptionally tall and exceptionally old. One sudden movement and it would go toppling to the ground before anyone could catch him.

"I'll get someone to hold it for you. Oh. Oi, Lily, get over here!" Albus called out to his sister.

Scorpius hadn't noticed Lily sitting about halfway down the Gryffindor table with some friends, going over simple transfiguration spells.

"What is it, Albus? Oh, hello, Scorpius!" Lily beamed, waving enthusiastically at Scorpius, who returned a limp smile.

"Would you mind holding that ladder still with your wand while Scorpius fixes the ceiling?" he asked and Lily nodded.

They made their way over to the ladders and begun to ascend a few rungs as the two Gryffindor girls – the other being a girl named Maureen, whom Lily was friends with – pointed their wands at the ladders and immediately stabilised them as though they were fixed in place.

"You're quite brave doing this!" Lily called up to Scorpius, but he couldn't find the air in his lungs to reply. Although he had only climbed halfway up, the fear of falling had taken root and was only growing stronger with every rung he passed. Once he had reached the top, without looking back down, Scorpius took out his wand and pointed it towards the nearest cluster of blue sparkles that Professor Gideon had left for them. As he tapped the sparkles, the ceiling seemed to knit back together and snow appeared above his head. Lily called out 'congratulations' from below and without warning, shuffled the ladder across towards the next area needing repairs. Scorpius gripped tightly onto the wood, his fingernails digging into it to keep himself from falling.

As Scorpius was reaching out to tap his wand to the problem area, he heard Albus cursing to the left of him.

"Bloody, useless lump of wood. C'mon work!" Albus muttered, banging his wand against the ceiling but to no avail.

"You've got to-" Scorpius began to advise Albus but stopped when he saw Albus' ladder swaying.

"Hey, Maureen, watch it, would you!" Albus called out, looking down, "Maureen!" he yelled out as his ladder gave a violent tremble and slipped out from under him. Scorpius had only a moment to process everything he saw that happened so quickly. When he looked to the ground he saw that Maureen had fainted on the floor and Albus had been thrown from his ladder, which was now making its way towards crushing the unconscious Gryffindor girl on the floor. An older Ravenclaw boy jumped up from where he was sitting and flicked his wand at the ladder, setting it alight and turning it to harmless falling ash. Several students screamed and Lily placed her hand on Scorpius' ladder and gripped tight as she pointed her wand at Albus' falling form and called out.

"Arresto Momentum!" the spell slowed Albus down for a moment before he crashed onto the Hufflepuff table below. Lily redirected her wand back at Scorpius' ladder as he quickly scrambled down to the ground and together they rushed over to where Albus lay on the table, pushing their way through the gathering crowd of students.

"Someone get a teacher!" Lily screamed out, reaching to touch her brother's unmoving arm. A few Hufflepuffs at the back of the crowd darted out of the Great Hall in search of help. As Scorpius approached his friend, he noticed a fine trickle of blood coming out of the back of Albus' head and that several of his limbs were twisted at odd, unnatural angles. He had landed on, and smashed, several empty plates and the chipped china had cut up his arms and legs.

The Hufflepuffs returned with Professor McGonagall almost immediately and she parted the crowd of students to survey the scene.

" _Good grief, Potter._ " She mumbled under her breath, "Everyone disperse," she announced to the crowd, "And would someone get Madam Pomfrey for me!"

"I would wager that Potter here gets into trouble even more often than his father did, if that's possible." McGonagall mused. She was standing at the foot of Albus' bed in the infirmary along with James, Lily and Scorpius. James had his hand resting on his brother's forehead, brushing loose strands of hair away from his closed eyes. Lily was holding Albus' hand, tears streaking down her face.

"Come now, you heard Madam Pomfrey, he'll be fine after a few days." McGonagall said, much less sharply than normal. She put a hand on Lily's shoulder to comfort her and Scorpius gave her a rueful smile.

"Now, I want you to start at the beginning. Tell me exactly what transpired, Mr. Malfoy."

"Well, Professor Gideon asked us to help him with something." Scorpius said, trying not to make eye contact with McGonagall.

"Oh that man! I'll wring his neck when I see him!" she cursed.

"He wanted us to repair the ceiling in the Great Hall. It was damaged, you see." Scorpius explained.

"Yes, I did notice that. I should add that no one had brought this problem to my attention, had I known, I would've fixed it myself immediately."

Scorpius felt a sense of dread again, it seemed that every time Professor Gideon gave them a task to complete he was setting them up for failure. Could it be that he was trying to get them in trouble, or worse, injured?

"We were holding the ladders steady while they fixed it," Lily chimed in, "And then Maureen just passed out and Albus fell. I tried to slow him down but I had to keep Scorpius safe."

"She was quite brilliant actually." Scorpius added.

"Yes, it seems without your intervention, Miss Potter, your brother here might not have survived that fall." McGonagall praised, "Right then, I will have words with Professor Gideon. You ought not to worry anymore about Mr. Potter, he'll be fine. You all should go get some rest." She advised.

James got to his feet.

"I should send an owl to Mum and Dad, Professor. They need to know that he's okay." He said and McGonagall nodded and waved him out the infirmary.

"I shall imagine the Minister will want some kind of severe punishment for this." McGonagall added grimly before following James out.

It was a few more agonising days of waiting before Albus opened his eyes and was able to sit up in bed with assistance. Scorpius and Lily waited by his bedside whenever they were free from class and James popped by every evening with an update from Harry and Ginny, both of whom were furious and had scheduled a meeting with McGonagall to discuss what would happen to Professor Gideon, who had – for the time being – been suspended on full pay for negligence. Rose stopped by with some cards from each of the houses to give to Albus when he woke up and she gave Scorpius a small ruby.

"It's for luck." She told him, "I'm not particularly superstitious but it always helps me when I need it." Scorpius thanked her and stowed the ruby away in his pocket.

Finlay also dropped by a few times once Albus had woken up. He brought with him a large care package that Slytherin house had put together for him; filled with sweets, wand polish, a little book of jinxes and his scarf and hat to keep him warm. The infirmary was bitingly cold during the winter but whenever Scorpius asked Madam Pomfrey to cast a heating charm, she told him that the cold helped students to heal. Scorpius vehemently disagreed but he didn't breathe a word of the sort to her.

After another week of bed rest, Albus was declared fit to return to school and was up and walking before Scorpius could stop him.

"You should take it easy, Albus." He advised but Albus waved him off his concerns.

"I've been lying down for weeks, I don't think I need to take it any easier." He said, with a wince as he stumbled slightly. Scorpius rushed to his side and grabbed his arm to steady him and Albus smiled back appreciatively. Scorpius helped him to class and carried his books for him, he also took notes as Albus hadn't quite mastered writing smoothly yet. Feeling a little better and more mischievous, Albus feigned a nasty headache in their final Divination class to get both him and Scorpius a free pass to leave early. Instead of heading to the infirmary like Professor Trelawney had advised, they sat themselves down in their usual spot at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall.

"Looks great in here, doesn't it!" Albus marvelled at the Christmas decorations. A monumental tree had been placed up by the staff table, decorated with copious amounts of flickering lights and multi-coloured tinsel. Wreaths dangled from every wall and baubles danced through the air, enchanted to do so. The ceiling showed thick snowfall and had been surreptitiously fixed while Albus was in the infirmary, probably by McGonagall herself.

"It does." Scorpius agreed, "Looking forward to the party tonight?" he asked. Every year, before the students departed home for Christmas, Hogwarts hosted a festive meal in the Great Hall to celebrate the term's end. It was famous for allowing students a goblet of mead and staff several many more on top of that. Last year Professor Longbottom had ended up dancing with the Christmas tree as several staff members tried to wrestle him away.

"Sure. I'm more excited about going home though. Mum and Dad have been a little crazy since my fall."

"Rightly so." Scorpius said.

They played a quick game of Exploding Snap, in which Scorpius lost miserably, before heading down to the dungeons to get changed for the party.

The Great Hall bustled with noise as students finished their Christmas dinners and pulled magic crackers with one another. James was leading a raucous singalong at the Gryffindor table and Scorpius could've swore he saw McGonagall laughing behind her hand as Hagrid joined in. The Slytherin table was full of students talking about their plans for the Christmas holiday, one girl said her parents were planning to take her skiing, although she hadn't the faintest idea of what that entailed. Finlay was staying behind over the holiday, even though his parents had insisted he come see them, to watch over the first years who too were staying at Hogwarts. Scorpius had gotten an owl just before the party to say that his dad would meet him at Kings Cross Station as soon as the Hogwarts Express pulled in. Although he had wanted to, Albus wouldn't be getting the train home, instead his Uncle Ron was picking him, James, Lily and Rose up in his flying car with special permission from the Headmistress.

"Enjoy the food?" Albus asked Scorpius, slurring his words ever so slightly from the mead. Scorpius nodded and opened his mouth to speak but was shocked when Lily planted a kiss on his cheek from behind.

"That's for looking after Al." she told him and ran back to the Gryffindor table giggling. Albus burst into a fit of laughter as Scorpius blushed and tried to hide his face behind his hands. The Gryffindors began to cheer Lily's name over and over and Scorpius saw her blow a kiss his way between giggles.

Once all the food had been eaten and the plates disappeared, the Headmistress bade them a good night and an even better Christmas. Students begun to disappear back to their common rooms to make sure everything was packed for the train tomorrow. Albus turned suddenly to Scorpius as the last remains of students departed,

"Come with me. I have something for you." Albus grabbed Scorpius' hand and dragged him out of the Great Hall, down the adjacent corridor and into a shadowy alcove. The mead had made them both a little tipsy and they giggled as them stumbled against the stone wall.

"I have your Christmas present, but you have to close your eyes!"

"Albus, I swear to Merlin, if you jinx me while my eyes are closed I'll…well, I'll tell your Dad!"

"Oh, you're awful threatening! Just close your eyes!" Albus insisted.

Scorpius pressed his eyelids together as tight as he could and when he did, Albus retrieved his wand from his pocket and pointed it at the stone hanging above them. Between the grooves of brick sprouted a tiny branch of mistletoe, so delicate that it would almost certainly vanish moments later. Albus swallowed hard, took a last look at the mistletoe to gather courage and begun to lean forward.

"Albus, would you hurry up with this present. I'd quite like to go home for the holidays and if you-" Scorpius was cut short by Albus' lips pressing against his, warm and with the faint taste of liquor. As he pushed back, there was a curious tingling sensation on his thigh.

"Ouch!" Scorpius pulled away and looked down to see Albus' wand pointed at his thigh, having burnt a hole in his trousers and singed the skin on his leg.

"Oh, I'm sorry, it was an accident! I must have…must have-"

With a hint of amusement in his voice, Scorpius muttered "It's okay. _Episkey_." As he pointed his own wand towards the burnt skin, a flush of hot air left the tip and breezed over his leg. For a moment the skin appeared to flutter and vibrate as a new layer rolled over the top, leaving it good-as-new.

"I thought that only worked on broken bones?" Albus asked, his face so close to Scorpius' that he could still smell the whiff of mead on his breath.

"Well, I can see you haven't been paying attention in Charms again. Honestly Albus, how do you expect to pass your O.W.L.s?" Scorpius scolded him playfully and Albus grabbed his hand and intertwined their fingers for a moment.

"Merry Christmas, Scorp." He breathed, the corners of his mouth slowly turning up into a smile.

"Merry Christmas, Albus." Scorpius replied and gave a tight squeeze of Albus' hand before they broke apart and Albus disappeared down to the dungeons.

" _Merry Christmas indeed._ " Scorpius muttered to himself, smiling and leaning back against the stone wall of the alcove.


	6. Some Most Troubling Information

Scorpius started on his way down to the dungeons, in the wake of Albus. His emotions were a tangled, jumbled mess and quite frankly, he wasn't sure how to feel at this very moment. What had just happened could very well have been one of his wildest dreams and he was half expecting to wake up in his bed any moment. As he passed the final corridor headed towards the Slytherin dungeons, he ran his fingers along the cool, rough stone wall and concluded that he was indeed awake, for the slight numbness in his fingertips felt too real to be in his head. He was approaching the concealed stone entrance and opened his mouth to speak the password, when the wall shuddered and rippled open and Professor McGonagall almost tumbled on top of him.

"Professor!" Scorpius squeaked, regaining his balance. The Professor dusted off her robes and adjusted her square glasses, looking down her nose at Scorpius.

"Ah, Mr. Malfoy! Just who I was looking for! You wouldn't happen to know where Mr. Potter has gotten to, would you?" she asked, putting an arm around his shoulder and guiding him away from the dungeons.

"N-no, Professor." Scorpius stumbled, glancing over his shoulder at the closing entrance to his common room, "Where are you taking me? I really ought to pack before tomorrow."

"That won't be necessary. I'll have Mr. Filch bring your belongings up to my office. Your father is waiting there for you." McGonagall said, her arm still around Scorpius guiding them both up the flight of stairs towards the Entrance Hall.

"My father?" Scorpius asked, shocked. He tried to dig his heels in slightly to stop but McGonagall continued to drive him forwards.

"Yes, yes. Come on now, pick up the pace!" she barked, guiding them past the now deserted, but nevertheless inviting, Great Hall. Up a flight of stairs they went and McGonagall scolded a Ravenclaw couple sharing a kiss when they thought they were alone.

"Oh, for heaven's sake! Can't you wait another day until the holidays begin?" she cried, sending them rather sheepishly on their way.

As they ascended another flight of stairs, that tried to shift rapidly to the left but upon sensing the Headmistress decided to stay put, Scorpius could feel the effects of the mead wearing thin and his sense of giddiness was quickly diminishing. At last, they approached the stone gargoyle hiding the staircase leading to the Headmistress' office. McGonagall withdrew her wand and flashed it almost threateningly at the gargoyle, that leapt aside and let them rise up into her office.

"Now, there we go. Please take a seat, Malfoys." McGonagall gestured to both Scorpius and Draco, who had put a hand on his son's shoulder by way of greeting.

"What's this about, McGonagall?" Draco asked, leaning back casually in his chair, while Scorpius was rooted bolt upright in his.

"Thank you for joining me tonight, Mr. Malfoy. I'm sorry for any trouble it might have caused you." McGonagall said absent-mindedly.

"It's quite alright given that you lifted the Apparition ban but I'd rather you explain why my presence was requested so desperately." Draco countered.

"You will be aware by now that Albus Potter was injured recently in an accident." McGonagall shuffled several rolls of parchment on her desk, peering at Draco through her spectacles.

"Not the way I heard it. It didn't exactly sound like an accident. Sounded more like the boy was set-up and my son could've been the next."

"I assure you we are investigating the matter as an accident. However," McGonagall, paused, drawing a sharp intake of breath, "We have found some most troubling information about a certain member of staff. Professor Gideon."

Scorpius shifted uncomfortably in his seat, he had partly been expecting this news since Albus fell from the ladder.

"It seems that he may not be what he appeared when he was appointed to our staff. It appears he may have been targeting the Potter boy, and by extension, your son." McGonagall said gravely.

"Well, there you have it!" Draco said triumphantly, "It clearly was no accident."

"That particular _incident_ is being treated as an accident until we have sufficient evidence that says otherwise. We will be keeping an eye on your son and Albus Potter come the new term, for their safety, of course."

"That's a good start. I should hope this Professor Gideon will be getting the sack? Off to Azkaban perhaps?" Draco asked, his eyes glistening slightly at the thought of revenge.

"For now, the Professor is suspended pending further investigation. You'll let us deal with the matter, I hope?" McGonagall asked bitingly.

"So long as he's not teaching in the new year, yes, I'll leave you to it. Have you any other protection you're willing to offer my son and his friend?" Draco replied and rested his hand on Scorpius' arm.

"I can give them an escort of Prefects but I fear that would draw unnecessary attention from the other students."

"I don't want that!" Scorpius piped up and Draco turned to him, brow furrowed.

"Are you worried that other students would make fun of you, son?" he asked. Scorpius shook his head furiously.

"I'd just rather get my head down next term, not make a spectacle of myself. _Again._ " Scorpius added the last word in a very small voice.

"Right, that's settled then. You'll keep an eye on the boys and they'll pass their exams. Was there anything else you wanted to add, McGonagall?" Draco asked, already rising from his chair.

"No, that's it, Mr. Malfoy. I'll let you know by owl any further developments." McGonagall concluded, waving them away, "Oh, Merry Christmas." She added and Draco nodded in gratitude.

"Ready to go home, son? Your suitcase is just over there." Draco asked, pointing over to the familiar case. Scorpius hadn't even noticed Mr. Filch slip in with it, for it definitely wasn't there when he entered the Headmistress' office. Scorpius grabbed the case and Draco put his arm around Scorpius, preparing to side-along apparate out of the castle.

"Headmistress, Mr. and Mrs. Potter are here to see you!" Argus Filch, announced bursting through the door directly opposite the Malfoys and looking rather shocked. He pushed his way past them and behind him followed Harry and Ginny, looking slightly dishevelled. Draco raised an eyebrow in questioning and Ginny whispered in his ear,

" _He apparated us into the greenhouse. Nightmare._ "

Draco turned briefly to Scorpius to say,

"Wait here a moment, I'll just go have a chat with the Potters."

Scorpius understood that his father was actually going to see if McGonagall would give the Potters any extra information she may have concealed from them. He settled his suitcase back down and sank into a red leather chair, suddenly feeling all the energy from the day drain out of him. Hopefully his father wouldn't take long and he'd be back at home in no time.

"Feeling tired?" came a calm, old voice from behind Scorpius. He jumped up from the chair and found himself face-to-face with the portrait of Albus Dumbledore.

"How did you get here?!" Scorpius croaked, very shocked. Dumbledore chuckled to himself, running a hand along his majestic, white beard to smooth it down.

"I live here, dear boy. I'd just been for a little jaunt down to the portrait outside the kitchen in the hope that I could spot any pudding going in and out. How did you get here would be a more prudent question?" Dumbledore asked.

"Well, the Headmistress needed to talk to me." Scorpius replied as Dumbledore's piercing blue eyes surveyed the boy before him.

"Ah, quite right, Minerva did mention that to me earlier. I've gotten rather spotty in old age, you see, or rather in my painted years." Dumbledore added with a wink, "I sense something's troubling you."

"Not exactly." Scorpius mumbled.

"Indecision helped no man, Mr. Malfoy. Go on, tell an old portrait what ails your soul." Dumbledore insisted.

Scorpius hesitated for a moment but then decided that it couldn't hurt to vent to a portrait and so he shuffled the leather chair around to face Dumbledore and slumped into it once more.

"Well, there's this friend. My friend. Only, it seems like now they want to be more than friends. I don't really know how to feel. I've liked this friend for quite some time and I'm not sure what will happen when we come back to Hogwarts."

Dumbledore and nodded and paused in thought for a moment, tapping his chin with one, long, thin finger. Scorpius wondered if the portrait were actually thinking or if it just gave that impression as it's what Dumbledore would have done in life. After a few more moments of painted contemplation, the portrait Dumbledore spoke,

"I see many similarities between myself and you, Mr. Malfoy. We both tried to make up for the ills of those that came before us, both rather gifted with magic – if I do say so myself – and both deeply in love with a boy that perhaps couldn't love us back."

Scorpius' eyes bulged and his jaw fell slack, leaving Dumbledore to chuckle slightly.

"I may be a portrait, but I'm rather astute you see. I've always been quite partial to Hogwarts gossip. You are, I assume, talking about Mr. Potter?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes." Scorpius muttered, dropping his head.

"It should be noted that while I do see a great number of similarities between you and I, there are also crucial differences between us. I was unable to cope with being rejected by my love, but I don't see you ultimately struggling with that scenario." Dumbledore commented and Scorpius looked back up at him, inquisitively.

"That is to say, I imagine you would still remain fierce friends with Mr. Potter should he choose to remain just that. Friends. Am I right?" Dumbledore asked and Scorpius nodded.

"I thought as much. You are a stronger man than I, Mr. Malfoy. Although, you are still young. And youth dictates that you enjoy yourself. So perhaps you should take a chance? Or as I believe young people say 'put yourself out there'." Dumbledore smiled a gentle smile, before rising out of his painted chair.

"I must be going, Mr. Malfoy. All the best and you know where to find me should you need to talk." As Dumbledore departed out of frame, Scorpius felt a hand on his shoulder and he turned around to see his Dad standing there, holding his suitcase.

"Time to go home, son."

Scorpius got to his feet and thought for a moment on Dumbledore's advice. He certainly didn't feel strong enough to survive rejection from Albus. Although, after that night's events, he wasn't sure he would get the answer he had so dreaded.


	7. Christmas with the Malfoys

Scorpius felt the familiar crushing pain around his skull as he and his father apparated into the courtyard out the front of Malfoy Manor. He pressed his hands firmly over his eyes as everything seemed to expand before him and he caught his father whipping out his wand to illuminate the large, dangling lamps that grappled to the brickwork of the building.

The courtyard was flooded with warm orange light from the lamps and Scorpius looked up to survey his home. There were far less vines clinging to the various buildings and a lot of the tangled bushes and weeds had been ripped away.

"I thought I would start clearing the place up while you were at school." Draco mused, "I had hoped to have it finished before you came home but…the time got away from me."

He headed in through large wooden entrance door and Scorpius followed, taking his suitcase from his father as he headed upstairs.

"Would you like something to eat, son?" Draco called up the stairs.

"No, thank you, I'm fine!" Scorpius called back down, flicking his wand to unlock his bedroom door and hurling the suitcase at his bed. His bedroom was large and airy and his father had clearly been in here while he was at school to clean up and make sure it was ready before he returned home. The tall bay window on the far left-hand wall was wide open and the thick, maroon curtains that hung around it had been sucked out into the breeze. Scorpius dragged them back in and pulled the windows to, surveying the view of the grounds below. His father had certainly been working hard to uproot everything. Some new oak trees had been installed down the end of the grounds and almost all of the poison ivy and sickle spine bushes had been ripped from place and presumably destroyed. Everything seemed much more open and clear now and Scorpius certainly appreciated what his father was doing to make this a home for them.

"I should have done that years ago." Draco said, standing over Scorpius' shoulder, "Back when your mother was around; she always wanted a nice, open space for you to ride your broomstick."

"Good thing I'm hopeless on a broom then." Scorpius joked and his father placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed.

"I always feared that your grandparents would be angry if I changed anything. Now it all seems so silly. I should've listened to _her._ " Draco almost choked out the last word and Scorpius was sure – without looking – that his father had tears in his eyes. Scorpius gazed further down towards the end of the garden where a barely visible, shimmering rectangle of magic vibrated. It protected the spot where his mother had been buried. There were a bunch of white roses laid in the middle of the rectangle.

"That reminds me, we're having dinner with your grandparents tomorrow." Draco added.

"Actually, Dad, I was hoping…we could just have dinner here. Just the two of us." Scorpius protested feebly.

"I was hoping the same but they insisted. Better to get it out of the way than have them pestering us next year."

Scorpius was almost certain his father was talking about himself, after all, his grandparents never spoke directly to Scorpius. Never sent an owl to see how he was. They definitely never visited Malfoy Manor. After Draco and Astoria had gotten married, the Malfoys left their property to the newlyweds and bought a large cottage out in the country. They had never returned to their former home, not even for Astoria's funeral, a fact Draco still resented to this day.

"You should get some sleep, son. It's been a busy day, I imagine." Draco commented, hovering in the doorway of his son's bedroom.

"It has." Scorpius said, wistfully thinking back to the rather hectic evening he had enjoyed.

"Is there anything you'd like to tell me?" Draco asked, tilting his head slightly to the side.

Scorpius thought for a moment. There was a lot he wanted to tell his father. After all, other than Albus, his Dad knew the most about him. But this one secret felt too precious to share, as though he didn't have the permission to tell his father.

"No." Scorpius replied, swallowing hard. Draco nodded, wished his son a 'good night' and disappeared downstairs. He had set up a bed in the large study downstairs several years ago, for he didn't sleep in the bed he had shared with his wife.

Scorpius fell backwards onto his bed, his skin making contact with the scratchy blanket atop the softer covers. Without climbing beneath the sheets, or even undressing, he closed his eyes and let his mind wander. Almost immediately it settled on Albus and danced around his lips, the feel of Albus' hand on his lower back, drawing them closer. A breeze from the slightly ajar window rustled over Scorpius body and chilled the exposed flesh on his thigh where Albus' wand had burnt a hole in his trousers. His nose crinkled up in silent laughter as he felt the flush of warmth from the healing spell all over again and remembered how flustered Albus had looked. He remembered the sight of him disappearing around the corner of their secret, little alcove.

His final thought had been a fantasy of the future. He found himself standing on Platform 9 ¾ next to the Hogwarts Express, which was bustling with students returning from their holidays. From a distance, Scorpius spotted Albus rushing towards him. Their bodies crushed together as Albus flung his arms around Scorpius and pressed their lips together once again. There was no crackle of electricity, no fire burning between them but he felt safe. He felt cared for and protected with Albus holding him.

"So, Scorpius, have you got a girlfriend at Hogwarts?" Lucius Malfoy, inquired, as he buttered a slice of bread with an exquisite silver knife. There was an extravagant 'M' carved into the handle.

"Yes, you must be quite popular with the ladies." Narcissa added.

"Well, actually-" Scorpius began.

"Don't be shy, boy, we've softened up a little in our old-age. Just make sure she's at least half-blood." Lucius interrupted, a devilish smile on his lips.

"Oh, he's kidding of course, don't look at us like that, Draco! It was a joke, wasn't it, dear?" Narcissa protested, elbowing her husband in the side.

"Yes, a joke." Lucius replied, rolling his eyes and dropping the silver knife so that it clattered against his plate. He brushed a long silvery strand of hair out of his face and tucked it away with the rest of his ponytailed hair, that had mostly changed from white blonde to an aged silvery tone in recent years.

"Now, now. Mother, father, leave the lad alone, won't you?" Draco spoke up, raising both his hands as though in surrender.

"Is she in Slytherin, dear?" Narcissa pushed, leaning closer over the table towards Scorpius, who shuffled uncomfortably in his exceptionally uncomfortable chair.

"Can you imagine, Narcissa, a Malfoy dating a Gryffindor or – Merlin forbid – a _Hufflepuff_?" Lucius sneered upon uttering the house's name.

"You see, there's-" Scorpius began but his father intercepted him.

"Scorpius, could I have a word with you in the kitchen please?" Draco asked sharply. Scorpius noticed that his father's hands were balled into tight fists and he got up from his chair wordlessly and followed him into the kitchen as Narcissa called after them,

"Draco, bring us some ice."

Draco grabbed a large, polished silver bowl from out of one of the cupboards above his head. The handle on the cupboard door was adorned with a twisted bronze serpent that wriggled ever so slightly as Draco closed it. He pointed his wand at the inside of the bowl and flicked his wrist,

"Aguamenti."

Scorpius watched in silence as a steady stream of clear water poured out of his father's wand, filling the bowl. When it was almost full, he flicked his wrist again and the bowl of water solidified into a dome of ice.

"Scorpius."

"Yes, dad?"

"You mustn't tell your grandparents what I believe you were planning on telling them." Draco muttered, surveying the bowl of ice.

"You know?" Scorpius asked, the words almost failing him. A large lump had formed at the base of his throat and was threatening to constrict his wind pipe.

"This isn't a matter of what I know or do not know, Scorpius. Your grandparents, you see, are rather old-fashioned." Draco replied sharply. Scorpius wasn't used to his father talking to him this way, he had always been unusually gentle with his son, in contrast to how he spoke to the rest of the world.

"You think they wouldn't accept me?" Scorpius asked, shrinking away from his father.

"It's not that. Wizards aren't as close-minded as Muggles with regards to these kinds of issues. The problem is your grandparents value our bloodline above all else." Draco admitted.

"So, they would be angry if I couldn't give them grandchildren?"

"More than that, they want me to have an heir. A Malfoy to carry on the legacy. And I do believe it's my fault that you've been burdened like this." Draco said cryptically.

"How?" Scorpius asked.

"Well, if your mother and I had been able to give you a sibling then you wouldn't be in this position. It's my fault." Draco's shoulders sank as he hunched over the bowl of ice.

"Dad, no-" Scorpius began.

"So, I need you to not say anything, Scorpius."

"You can't expect me to lie to them?" Scorpius snapped, feeling resentful towards his father for asking this of him.

"It wouldn't be lying, just avoiding the truth." Draco protested.

"Dad, that's exactly what lying is." Scorpius countered.

"Please, Scorpius, don't tell them." Draco begged.

"You can't make me do this."

"I'm your father and I can do as I please." He replied, his words so harsh they struck Scorpius in the chest like acid running through his veins.

"I'll run away!" Scorpius yelled, feeling powerless against his father who he had so trusted and expected to trust him and his decisions in return.

"What? You're too old to be making these kinds of threats, don't you think? Besides, where would you go?"

"To Albus. I'm sure his mum and dad would love to take me in. Their own grandson living under Harry Potter's roof, I'm sure that'd kill them, eh, dad?" Scorpius sneered, revelling in his unusually cruel tone.

"Scorpius, please, I'm trying here. Can't you understand that?" Draco continued to plead.

"No and I won't try to! I'll run away and you'll never see me again. See how you like that, driving your own son away and-"

"NO!" Draco yelled, slamming his fist on the counter and sending a wave of red sparks out of his wand that cracked the ice in the bowl into pieces and sent several hovering jars whizzing around the kitchen. Draco waved his wand around above his head and the jars returned back to their usual place, floating just inches above the countertops.

"I've already lost your mother. You are all I have left. All I care about. I love you, son, sometimes I don't show it because of the way your grandparents raised me but I do. So, could you do me this one favour?" Draco pleaded, pressing his hands together with his wand sticking up between them. Scorpius nodded reluctantly and Draco added with a sly wink, "Besides, it won't be forever, they have to die someday."

The pair returned from the kitchen with the bowl of shattered ice, which Narcissa took gratefully and begun spooning the ice shards into her husband's drink.

"Everything alright, Draco?" Lucius asked, eyeing the pair suspiciously, "Quite a commotion you caused in there. Trouble in paradise?"

"Not at all, father. I'm just a little rusty with the spell to make ice cubes," Draco commented, noticing that his mother had turned her nose up at the jagged shards of ice in the bowl, "Good thing Scorpius here knows his way around a blasting charm." He clapped his son hard on the back at that and Lucius shot a half-hearted smile at Scorpius.

"Now, Scorpius, you were telling us about your little girlfriend." Lucius drew the topic of conversation back.

Scorpius hesitated for a moment, catching his father's pleading gaze.

"Oh yes, she's quite lovely. She's a Slytherin," that elicited an 'ooh' from his grandparents, "She's a half-blood, I think. Not that it matters, right?"

"Absolutely not, dear." Narcissa replied, placing a few chunks of ice into Draco's goblet.

"A half-blood is better than a mud-"

"Lucius." Narcissa snapped at her husband, who turned sullenly away from her, "And she's pretty, is she, Scorpius?"

"Very. Actually, she's the most gorgeous person I know." Scorpius admitted, feeling a sense of pride at covertly describing Albus.

"Sounds like you've bagged yourself quite a catch, eh, son?" Draco added, trying playfully to ruffle his son's hair but instead the gesture came off as rather forced and awkward.

"Well, how did you meet this girl?" Lucius asked between sips of his blood-red drink.

"It's an interesting story actually. We've been good friends since I first went to Hogwarts, best friends really. I thought she wasn't interested in me but at Christmas she kissed me and ran away." Scorpius explained, deflating a little on the last point. Narcissa tutted loudly.

"Sounds like she's playing coy to me! Yes, I knew quite a few wand teases back in my days at Hogwarts."

"If she keeps you away from that dreadful Potter boy, then I approve." Lucius raised his glass in a sort of mock cheers.

"Albus is my friend. I'm quite capable of managing a friendship and a relationship, thank you."

"You would be wise not to take that tone with me, boy!" Lucius snapped, pointing his wand at Scorpius, at which point Draco hastily intervened.

"I think what he meant, father, is that he's a very talented young man! I'm sure Scorpius' girlfriend won't mind his little friend tagging along."

"Yes, quite." Lucius mumbled, stowing his wand away, and spent the rest of the evening in moody silence.

The Malfoys had presented Scorpius with a gift of a rather expensive new broom, which he decided upon opening would end up in his bedroom, gathering dust for years to come. Nevertheless, he thanked them and his grandmother pulled him into a tight hug. Scorpius suspected that if she had her way, she would have far more contact with him and his father but it felt as though his grandfather preferred the family to be divided. They handed Draco a velvet bag filled with Galleons and told him that he should use the money to invest in his son's future. Draco had forced a smile and stowed the bag away in his pocket.

When Draco and Scorpius returned home, there was a stack of roughly wrapped presents waiting for them in the entry way. Draco must have placed them there just before they departed that morning. Pulling apart his father's shoddy wrapping, Scorpius found inside the various wrappings a book on ancient Wizarding history, a fancy new quill that shimmered a dazzling golden colour under light, a green jumper and various boxes and packets of sweets. The final present from his father hadn't been wrapped but sat under the pile and it immediately brought tears to Scorpius' eyes. It was a photo that he had never seen before, nor did he remember it being taken. Scorpius, only three years old, stood wedged between his father and mother who were both smiling broadly. They leaned in towards each other and shared a kiss as the little Scorpius looked up puzzled at them. Scorpius stood for a moment, clutching the photograph and watched as his parents leaned in and kissed over and over as the smaller version of himself watched them.

"I found that in her study. I remember the day we took that; it was your third summer. Lovely day so we decided to go for a walk through the fields. You loved it. I thought you'd like to have this, for when you go back to school."

" _Thank you._ " Scorpius whispered, a great teardrop rolling off his cheek and plopping on the photo. He stowed it away inside his new jumper, hugged his father and gathered up his presents to carry upstairs.

"Oh, there's one more, son!" Draco called after him and Scorpius set down the gifts from his father and returned to find a little parcel wrapped in red and gold paper. He tore it open and found a roughly knitted, midnight blue scarf inside with his initials crudely sown into one of the ends. There was also a card inside, the front of which showed the entire Potter family gathered around a log fire in matching jumpers, with their arms around each other. Scorpius spotted Albus, flanked by his mother and sister in the middle, he could tell that although Albus was forcing a smile he was genuinely enjoying himself.

Inside the card read:

 _'Dear Draco and Scorpius,_

 _Merry Christmas from our family to yours!_

 _Hope you have a lovely day!_

 _Sorry about the scarf, Harry insisted._

 _All our love,_

 _The Potters.'_

And then beneath that, every member of the family had signed their own names individually. Scorpius looked for a moment, puzzled at Albus' signature which definitely didn't look like it normally did, actually, it looked rather like his mother's handwriting.

Scorpius passed the card to his father, who skim read through it.

"I almost feel bad for not sending them one." Draco commented before hastily adding, "Almost."

Scorpius took his presents and the card from the Potters up to his bedroom. He laid the card out on his bedside dresser and wrapped the scarf around his neck. At once, the stitching begun to come apart and Scorpius suspected it wouldn't last the month. Harry Potter had many talents, but clearly knitting was not one of them. Scorpius sat down on the edge of his bed and surveyed all of the Potters individually, beaming up from the Christmas card. He let his eyes rest on Albus and wondered how soon it would be until he heard correspondence from his friend. They usually sent each other an owl at New Year but Scorpius had half-hoped, given the events of the previous term, that he would receive something much sooner.

And that's how he spent the entire Christmas holiday, perched on the edge of his bed, waiting for news and trying to divine anything from the little, photo Albus.

It was a long holiday.

A long, _quiet_ holiday.


	8. Three Galleons, One Stolen

Platform 9 ¾ was unusually empty as Scorpius passed through the brick barrier between the Muggle world and the Wizarding world.

"Not a lot of students came home for Christmas, it seems?" Draco mused, carrying his son's suitcase under his arm.

"It was actually a lot busier on the way back. Do you reckon a bunch of students are bunking off this term?" Scorpius asked.

"For their sakes, I hope not. I can only imagine the trouble they would get into if they did. Good thing you had me here with you to make sure you don't go wandering." Draco chuckled, patting his son on the back with his free hand.

A loose owl whizzed overhead the pair, tweeting excitedly at its newfound freedom as a fourth year girl chased after it, lunging in the air to catch her pet.

"Dad, I wouldn't miss this term for my life! With O.W.L.s getting closer every day I need to spend as many hours in the library as I can."

"You certainly get your work ethic from your mother. Don't get me wrong, I got good grades at Hogwarts but you wouldn't have caught me in the library the first day back after Christmas."

"No doubt you'd have been up to some dastardly scheme in the dungeons?" Scorpius teased and his father smirked half-heartedly.

"Quite right, quite right." Draco muttered absent-mindedly.

"Scorpius!" came the voice of Lily Potter over Draco's shoulder and Scorpius leant around his father to see Albus walking side-by-side with his sister, each carrying a suitcase of their own. Lily plopped her case down on the ground and pulled Scorpius into a tight hug, even though she still only came up to his chest. When she released him, Scorpius reached over to hug Albus who took a wary step backwards and smiled, almost apologetically. Although subtle, Draco caught this out the corner of his eye and furrowed his brow.

"Did you like the scarf Dad made?" Lily asked excitedly, "I helped!" she added when Scorpius nodded.

"Hi Mr Malfoy. Here you go," Lily handed two gold coins to Draco, "Dad says it's for the drinks you paid for last time."

"Thank you. I was almost missing these two Galleons." Draco commented sarcastically and Lily giggled in response then grabbed her suitcase and dashed onto the train.

"It was three Galleons, but Lily pocketed the third one." Albus admitted as almost a pseudo-apology on his sister's behalf.

"That's fine, I'm quite surprised she didn't keep them all and tell you she lost them. Gryffindors, you see, just as cunning as us but a bit too thick to execute a plan properly." Draco said, a certain Slytherin pride radiating from him.

"That is my sister you're talking about." Albus scolded.

"Yes, yes, I didn't quite mean it-" Draco began.

"It's alright, I would've kept them all." Albus said and Draco clapped him on the shoulder with an enthusiastic 'Good lad'.

"Should we get on the train? I know you have to get back to work, Dad." Scorpius intervened. Draco looked down at his pocket watch and nodded. He reached his arms out and hugged his son, whispering in his ear,

" _Be patient with him, Scorpius._ "

Scorpius gave a slight nod to his father to show he had heard what he whispered and took the suitcase from under his father's arm, then turned and climbed up the metal stairs into the Hogwarts Express, with Albus just behind him. They found a compartment with the window facing onto Draco on the platform, who waved again when he saw them sitting down. Standing there in his black suit with darkened jade accents and smoothed out expression on his face, Scorpius couldn't help but admire his father for his poise and dignity, especially when his reputation around the Wizarding community wasn't exactly stellar.

"Where'd you think Lily disappeared to?" Albus asked, breaking Scorpius' train of thought.

"No idea, did any of her friends go home for Christmas?" Scorpius asked, scratching at the rubber lining the window frame.

"Probably. Yeah, you're probably right. I'll go find her once we've set off."

They sat for a few moments, Scorpius picking rubber out from under his fingernails and Albus kicking his left shoe on and off before the train jumped into motion and pulled slowly out of the station. Scorpius watched his father from the window, making writing gestures with his wand and he nodded back to him to let him know he would.

"I'm going to find Lily. I'll be back in a minute or two." Albus said and Scorpius waved him out of the compartment. He twiddled his thumbs together wondering why things were suddenly so strange between the two of them. Scorpius hadn't heard anything from Albus all Christmas, not even a Christmas card other than the one the Potter family sent him and his father.

Albus popped back into the compartment after a few more minutes of Scorpius' quiet contemplation. He was brandishing two Pumpkin Pasties and chucked one to Scorpius as he took his seat again.

"I made Lily buy us these. I threatened to tell Dad about the Galleon otherwise." Albus chuckled as he unwrapped his pasty, "The Trolley Witch still gives me the creeps."

"I know what you mean," Scorpius agreed, "The less said about that, the better."

The two boys sat eating their snacks with an uneasy silence still hanging over them. When they were finished Scorpius took out a Muggle fiction book he had found in the train station in London and Albus lay down on the seat and announced that he was going to have a little nap.

With Albus' faint snoring as white noise in the background, Scorpius settled in and read the book about Muggles falling in love with other Muggles and giving birth to little Muggles and buying things like 'toasters' and 'televisions', words he had only heard in passing during Muggle Studies. He could only imagine what kinds of fantastical items they were, although he vaguely remembered that a toaster had something to do with food.

As the train rounded a particularly sharp corner, the compartment rocked from side-to-side and woke Albus up with a jolt. Scorpius lowered his book and saw Albus rubbing his eyes and yawning.

"How long was I asleep?" he asked, squinting to look out the window, as darkness was beginning to pull in around them.

"I don't know, I lost track of the time." Scorpius replied. Albus gestured to his book.

"Good read?"

"Yeah, kept me busy." Scorpius concluded, having ploughed his way through the majority of the book.

"Good, good." Albus mumbled before yawning and stretching again, his eyes watering slightly. Scorpius put his book to one side and stretched his own legs out, feeling the effects of having sat still reading for so long.

"We should probably get changed into our robes now, Albus." Scorpius offered.

"Alright." Albus flicked down the blinds with his wand as Scorpius begun to unbutton his shirt. He caught his friend's eye for a moment and immediately dropped his gaze and took off his own jacket. Albus reached to pull off his t-shirt as Scorpius was slipping into his Hogwarts' shirt.

"Would you mind?" Albus asked, indicating a swivelling motion with his finger.

"What?" Scorpius asked, undoing the top button on his jeans.

"Could you…turn around please? While I change?" Albus asked again, trying not to look at his friend and feeling incredibly foolish for asking this.

"You've got to be kidding, Albus, you've gotten dressed and undressed in front of me a million times!" Scorpius said, astonished at his friend's sudden case of shyness.

"I just…please." Albus begged, clutching the chest of his t-shirt tightly. Scorpius sighed and turned around to face the carriage walls and it hit him square in the face why his friend had asked him to turn around. He was worried that Scorpius would…check him out. No wonder he had ducked out of hugging him on the platform. As Scorpius slid his jeans down he felt a sudden chill pull in around his body and he looked up to see the first flakes of snow start falling from the ceiling of the carriage. Scorpius turned his head slightly to see the reflection in the compartment window. Albus was standing just behind him, having removed his t-shirt, staring unblinkingly at Scorpius. After a moment of watching each other, Albus caught the reflection in the window and looked away ashamedly, the snowfall instantly vanishing. He turned his back to Scorpius and they both got changed like that in silence and spent the rest of the journey without a word passing between them.

As the train pulled into the station at Hogsmeade, both boys got up and as Albus reached to open the compartment door, Scorpius grabbed his wrist and stopped him.

"Albus, are we…okay?" he asked hesitantly. For a moment Albus said nothing and then, as though a switch had been flicked inside his head, he smiled broadly at his friend and said,

"Of course, mate, now come on, we better get to the carriages!" And with that, Albus dashed out of the compartment with Scorpius closely following behind. For a moment he had thought to ask his friend about the kiss they shared before Christmas but Albus hadn't given him a chance. He resolved to ask him once they reached the relative privacy of their dormitory.

As they approached the carriages, Scorpius once again noted how few students were on the train and he furrowed his brow in confusion. There were definitely many more students on the train to London so why had they not returned? He could just imagine the look on McGonagall's face when she realised that so many students had skipped out on Hogwarts. Albus and Scorpius got into a carriage occupied only by a lonely Ravenclaw girl, who smiled weakly at them. As they were waiting for more people to inevitably get in, the carriages burst to life without warning and took off up the familiar path to Hogwarts.

"Did even more people vanish getting off the train?" Scorpius whispered to Albus, who shrugged.

"I dunno, doesn't seem right, does it? People are missing."

As they got out of the carriage and headed into the Entrance Hall of Hogwarts, they realised why there were significantly less students on the Hogwarts Express.

 _CRACK._

 _CRACK._

 _CRACK._

 _CRACK._

Parents and students were apparating into the castle at every available space. The parents looked concerned while the students looked mildly impressed at seeing so many other people apparating into school.

"Guess McGonagall lifted the apparition ban for everyone?" Albus asked as they turned towards the corridor down to the dungeons.

"I thought she only did it for our parents. You don't reckon it's got something to do with Professor Gideon, do you?" Scorpius asked back, panicking slightly. Had the situation with Professor Gideon been more serious than McGonagall had told them? Was he more of a threat to the school than they knew?

"Dad said he was just a crack pot with a bit of a dark side. Nothing to worry about." Albus assured his friend, although he wasn't sure he was completely convinced himself.

Approaching the dungeons, the boys noticed a crowd gathering around the entrance to the Slytherin common room. Albus left Scorpius lingering at the back and elbowed his way to the front where Finlay was standing facing the crowd, with his arms spread across the open entrance.

"What's going on, Finlay?" Albus asked, feeling elbows digging into his back as other students tried to clamber to the head of the crowd.

"As I already told this lot, there'll be no more passwords for the common room this term. For the time being the passageway will be open." He explained as sounds of frustration and exasperation went up all around them.

"Who's gonna stop the Gryffindors from sneaking in here and hexing us at night?"

"What if someone wants to steal our stuff?"

"Don't we have a right to privacy?"

"Alright, that's enough. The Headmistress has informed me that to control security this term, all the common rooms will be open without passwords. So you've just as much chance of getting hexed in your sleep as they do. That's not an excuse to sneak in, mind you! I catch anyone in the other common rooms without permission and you're finished!" Finlay advised as several students started muttering excitedly at the prospect of visiting their enemies in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor unannounced.

Finlay sighed and turned on his side to allow the crowd to enter the common room. Albus waited to the side of the rush until Scorpius passed and he whispered in his ear,

" _Seems counter-productive, doesn't it? Increase security by making the common rooms a free-for-all?_ "

Scorpius chewed his lip in thought, he certainly wasn't sure why McGonagall had decided to both lift the Apparition ban and open the common rooms. He would send an owl to his father the next morning to see if he had any news. To their surprise, the jinxes on the dormitory doors had also been raised and several – including the fifth year's one – were swinging open on their hinges.

Albus and Scorpius dumped their suitcases on their beds and sat down facing each other.

"Weird things are happening at school, eh?" Scorpius pondered.

"When aren't weird things happening here?" Albus countered with a grin.

"Albus, can I ask you s-something?" Scorpius' voice trembled slightly. Albus frowned in response and nodded hesitantly.

"Why didn't you send an owl over Christmas? We should talk about-"

"I was really busy. Doesn't matter now though, does it?"

"Is it because-" Scorpius paused, taking a deep breath to summon the courage to continue, "Because you kissed me?"

Albus' cheeks flushed a dark red and he suddenly looked away from Scorpius.

"Why did you do it? Why did you kiss me?" Scorpius asked, on the verge of tears.

"I don't know why I did it, Scorp! Can't we just forget it happened?" Albus yelled, still not meeting Scorpius' gaze.

"No, Albus, you kissed me. We can't forget that happened. Just tell me why!" Scorpius shouted back.

"I don't know, maybe I was feeling sorry for-" Albus started.

"Feeling sorry for me? How dare you!" Scorpius spat, feeling positively venomous towards his friend.

"That's not what I meant!" Albus tried to explain.

"Albus Potter, I definitely don't need _your_ pity of all people!" Scorpius hissed.

The two sat there in silence, Scorpius trying to calm his breathing and Albus feeling tears well up in his eyes.

"I was feeling sorry for… _myself_." He admitted.

Scorpius wasn't sure how to respond to that. He tugged at the sleeve of his robe and tried to focus on the tiny, little stitches that lined the edges. Anything to distract himself from the thoroughly awkward silence that hung over them as the other Slytherin fifth year boys cautiously re-entered the dormitory, having fled immediately as the argument began. Thorne shuffled in nervously, his head hung low. He had been particularly careful not to draw attention to himself around Albus after their altercation, fearing Albus would be in the mood for a rematch. After a few more moments, Albus got to his feet, pulled the curtains around his bed, got changed into his pyjamas and climbed into bed.

Scorpius did the same and lay down, trying to calm his frantic mind to allow him some sleep. From the bed over he could hear Albus gently sobbing and so he got back up and crept over on his hands and knees. He pulled the curtain open and saw Albus clutching at his pillow, tears running down his face. Without hesitation, Scorpius threw his arms around his friend and held him tight until the tears stopped flowing.


	9. Interlude: Good day, Draco

Draco Malfoy stormed into Harry's office like a particularly violent gust of wind. As he slammed the door shut behind himself a stack of assorted papers on Harry's desk blew all around them before scattering all over the floor.

"Oi, Potter! We've got a problem." Draco spat.

"Potter? I must be in trouble if we're not on first name terms anymore." Harry pulled out his wand and picked all the papers back up, guiding them into stacking themselves back on his desk. He then motioned for Draco to take a seat opposite him. Draco yanked the chair out and sat down hard, the stack of papers once more threatening to topple over.

"Don't make jokes! You have to talk to your son immediately!" Draco slammed his fist down on the desk and Harry sighed and pinched the bridge of nose under his glasses.

"What do you mean? Which one?" he asked, rubbing that spot between his eyebrows where a headache was just starting to build.

"Albus, of course!"

"What's he done now?" Harry asked, a little frustrated.

"I don't know but I've had Scorpius in tears over the two-way mirror. He told me that Albus doesn't want to be friends anymore, did you put him up to this? Again?"

Harry got up from his seat and paced over to the window behind himself, he cracked it open slightly and drank in the fresh air. Down below, witches and wizards were milling around on their breaks, greeting each other and grabbing a snack before heading back to work. One wizard was trying to wrestle a metal crate into the Ministry but the crate was rocking violently from side-to-side as though something inside were trying to frantically escape. Without turning back to face Draco, Harry spoke again,

"Albus was…reserved over Christmas. More so than usual, he barely spoke at all and when I asked him what happened at Hogwarts he wouldn't answer. I thought perhaps they'd had a fight or something but now I think it might have been something else."

"Do you know? About them?" Draco asked, raised his eyebrow. Harry turned back around to face and ran a hand through his ruffled hair.

"I know as much as a parent in the dark can know."

"Then we're in the same boat, I imagine. I've known for quite some time that Scorpius…cares about Albus. More than I think Albus cares about him." Draco took a deep inhale as though trying to swallow tears, "I don't want my son to get his heart broken again. Astoria's death almost destroyed us, I won't lose Scorpius too."

"I understand, Draco, but I'm not sure what I can do. I don't know enough to talk with Albus and I'm sure if I asked he would shut me down. Boys don't really like talking to their fathers about this sort of thing."

"Isn't it obvious? You have to use your secret weapon. The one thing I can't." Draco proposed.

Harry paused for a moment, wondering what Draco was referring to, and then it hit him.

"Ginny." He said.

"Exactly. Mothers are far more delicate with these kinds of issues, after all it was my mother who convinced Father that marrying Astoria was the right thing to do, even if she didn't particularly approve herself." Draco explained. Harry nodded in agreement.

"I'll ask her to talk to him."

"How? By owl? You've no guarantee he'll even read it, let alone reply!"

"Then she'll go to Hogwarts and speak with him in person. I'm sure I can come up with some excuse to persuade them to let her in. Official Ministry business, something like that." Harry waved his hand as though getting a witch special permission to enter Hogwarts were no big deal.

Draco bowed his head in thanks and sat for a moment at Harry's desk staring at the assorted trinkets laid out. There was a photo sitting opposite him of the entire Potter family taken just after Lily had been born. Ginny was cradling her new-born while Harry was wrestling with the two boys. All of them were laughing and looked so happy together.

"How is she? Still pregnant I presume." Draco asked.

"Yeah, very much so. Look, Draco, that day on the platform when we told you. I saw your face. I know it must be hard for you without your wife around. I didn't mean to rub it in." Harry gushed, placing his hand on Draco's shoulder for a moment before pulling it away. Perhaps they weren't hand-on-shoulders kind of friends.

"Not at all. I do miss her and I regret not giving Scorpius a sibling but I just don't think I could do it again. Meet someone, fall in love, get married, have children. I feel too old for all that now." Draco admitted, feeling uncomfortable at sharing so much with Harry Potter of all people.

"If you did it once, how hard can it be? Witch Weekly had an article about older dating."

Draco fixed Harry with a puzzled, slightly bemused stare.

"Oh, Ginny, leaves them lying around the house all the time!" Harry defended himself, "I did speak to that witch in Muggle Artefacts, she seemed keen to have a drink with you."

"Perhaps I should take her up on it then." Draco mumbled, staring out the window Harry had cracked open, "Did you ever imagine that we could possibly be sitting here talking like this?"

"Not at all," Harry admitted, "Honestly, I thought I would have throttled you to death by now." He added with a wink.

Draco smiled limply and got to his feet. He held out his hand for Harry to shake, who took it hesitantly and shook.

"Good day, Pot…Harry."

"Good day, Draco."


	10. Firewhisky in the Greenhouse

"Harry Potter, don't you tell me how to be a mother to my own child!" Ginny snapped, leaning over the kitchen sink and taking deep breaths to calm herself. Harry sat behind her at the dining table, flipping idly through today's Daily Prophet. He had asked for the day off of work to organise Ginny's trip to Hogwarts but so far it hadn't gone exactly to plan.

"Oh, Ginny, you must!" he pleaded, casting his eye over an article about disputes with giants in Russia.

"Must I?" Ginny rounded on Harry, slamming her fist on the table, rattling the little candles that adorned the centrepiece.

"I don't think I'm asking too much." Harry muttered in a very small, very unsure voice. Ginny ran a hand through her flaming mane of hair and sank into a chair opposite Harry.

"That's just it. You don't think." Ginny took a deep breath – ignoring Harry's indignant look – and continued, "You never think about anything. You never ask, you just expect. You just expect that I'll always be there to pick up the pieces and do what you want. Day in, day out. I work hard at home to make sure everything is good for us. I cook, I clean, I fix what's broken and I buy what can be replaced."

"Gin, I-" Harry started to interrupt, but Ginny raised a hand to silence him.

"In amongst all of this, I have my own job to attend to. Where do you expect I find the time to write in between looking after you and the children? James will leave Hogwarts in another year and Albus after that. They'll want help with finding jobs and a place to live and Merlin knows they won't ask you! And then we still have Lily and the new one on the way." Ginny said coolly. She tried her best to avoid Harry's heartbroken stare, looking right through him.

"Honestly, Harry," she went on, "Do you think this is how I imagined my life? Do I think I want to be my…mother?" Ginny looked crestfallen to mention her mother with so much disdain but she felt beyond frustrated and couldn't contain it any longer.

They sat opposite each other for several long minutes in complete silence. The only sound that permeated their stalemate was the scratching from an enchanted scrubbing brush behind them taking the layer of crusted food off of the plates.

"Gin, I didn't know." Harry admitted, reaching out to hold his wife's hand. She still remained mighty angry and managed to stay stone-faced, even as Harry ran his thumb over her palm comfortingly.

"I didn't realise you were so unhappy." Harry mumbled, trying to avoid the biting sting of tears in his eyes.

"It's not that I'm unhappy!" Ginny protested, "I could just do with some help. Every now and then." She admitted.

"Okay, help. I can do that. No problem. I'll wash the clothes, I'll make the dinner, I'll even give you a foot rub every night." Harry added, raising his eyebrows and shooting Ginny a half-smirk that made her giggle against her restraint.

"You're utterly ridiculous, do you know that?" she scolded with a laugh and Harry shrugged in response. She clasped both of his hands and looked deep into his green eyes, trying to find peace that she often sought out in them.

"What do I need to do?" Ginny asked, resigned. Harry beamed at once and squeezed her hands even tighter.

"Excellent! Well, I need you to go to Hogwarts and talk with Albus." Harry explained, letting go of Ginny's hands and folding up his newspaper.

"And McGonagall lifted the Apparition ban? That's convenient." Ginny mused sarcastically.

"I thought the exact same thing but it does just seem to be a coincidence. Something about security issues after that lunatic Gideon went on leave."

"And this is to do with Scorpius?" Ginny asked. Harry eyed her suspiciously.

"What do you know, Gin? About Albus?"

"I imagine far more than you do. I'm his mother." She added with a wink. Harry chuckled to himself, it was true, the children were always more honest and open with Ginny than they were with him. James had confessed to her in secret when he destroyed Harry's rather expensive dragon hide gloves a few years back, and she in turn had waited a good few months before she relayed the confession to Harry himself.

"Then, yes, this is about Scorpius Malfoy. It's quite odd, isn't it? A Potter and a Malfoy. Don't you think?" Harry asked her, feeling rather nervous at once.

"Is there something you'd like to tell me, dear?" Ginny asked, grinning devilishly.

"No, no. I just thought it was…odd." Harry muttered, "You should probably go as soon as possible, talk to him tonight."

Ginny nodded in agreement and got to her feet, slipping them into her walking boots by the kitchen door. She scanned the kitchen for a moment before muttering to herself, " _Bloody cloak…never find it….always missing."_

She took her wand from the waistband of her jeans and called out "Accio travelling cloak." After a few moments, the cloak came whizzing down from upstairs and landed on Ginny's outstretched arm.

"Must've been in Lily's room." She concluded.

"Must've been." Harry agreed and he gave his wife a quick peck on the cheek as she wrapped her travelling cloak tightly around herself and affixed it around the neck. Within a moment, Ginny had disapparated out of the kitchen and Harry was left standing alone. He flicked his wand towards the scrubbing brush that was starting to take the paint off of the plates and stowed his wand away, continuing the washing up by hand.

It had been two days since Scorpius had confronted Albus in the Slytherin fifth year dormitory and they had ended up holding each other, with Albus sobbing into Scorpius' shoulder. It had seemed as though nothing were different between the two of them on the surface. They went to class together as usual. They ate meals together as usual. They did their homework in the library together as usual. But beneath the surface, the two kept finding themselves indulging in little moments of intimacy before snapping back to the world around them and trying to avoid the many pairs of eyes that always landed upon them.

At dinner, Scorpius had noticed that in Albus' haste to enjoy dessert he had gotten a smear of custard on his chin like a small child and hadn't noticed. Scorpius reached across – without invitation - and wiped it up, licking it off his finger. They had locked gazes for a moment, before Albus' eyes bulged and he looked down at his plate once more. Willa Snort – having noticed this out the corner of her eye – had given a great, name-appropriate, nose rattling snort of laughter but few others had seen what happened.

The following day they had been researching moonstones in the library to write a particularly long essay for Potions and as Scorpius leant over the thick, dusty tome on magical rocks his white-blonde hair fell in front of his eyes. He reached up to brush it away and his hand made a connection with Albus' who had clearly had to same idea of brushing Scorpius' hair out of his eyes. They both dropped their hands back down to the table at once but after realising that there was no one around, save for old Madam Pince, the librarian, their hands connected again and Scorpius spent their entire study session distracted by Albus' index finger running over his thumb.

There had been one far less conspicuous, secretive incident in the dormitory. Scorpius and Albus had returned from Herbology with Professor Longbottom – a particularly funny class in which some root-chomping soil had threatened to eat the Professor's hand – and the two took off their robes and changed into some more leisurely clothing. Someone had cast a heating charm in the common room to try and counteract the biting January cold, but it had gone awry and turned the entire Slytherin dungeon into a positively tropical affair. Finlay had been working on reversing the charm but it was a slow process and while he was working, the charm had spread into the dormitories. Both Albus and Scorpius put on t-shirts and decided to remain in their boxers to keep cool, so as not to have to venture up into the castle to escape the heat. Albus pulled out a copy of the Quibbler from under his pillow and motioned for Scorpius to sit down on his bed next to him to read through some of the ludicrous articles. They sat cross-legged next to each other, their knees knocking together as they leant over the pages of the Quibbler.

"Look at this…a cackling…tree stump…in the Ministry!" Albus guffawed, taking deep breaths of air in between each raucous break of laughter. He was positively rolling around on the bed and Scorpius couldn't help but find his laughter contagious, chuckling to himself too. In effort to try and restrain Albus' uncontrolled giggling, Scorpius reached over and placed a hand on Albus' exposed thigh to settle him.

At once, he noticed strange, inquisitive looks from the other boys in the dormitory, trying to keep cool on their own beds. A huffy sigh emerged from the far corner and feeling rather brave, Scorpius leaned in closer to Albus in protest, wrapping his arm lightly around his friend's waist, who was still howling with laughter.

"Potter!" Came Finlay's voice from their doorway. Albus stopped laughing at once and they both disentangled from one another and stood up to face their Head Boy. Great beads of sweat rolled down his forehead and he looked more stressed than normal. Finlay looked them both up and down for a moment, as they shuffled slightly further apart, and shook his head.

"Potter, you're wanted outside. You have a visitor." Finlay informed them, prodding his wand at the hot air circling around the dormitory, in an effort to cool it.

Albus' heart sunk deep into his stomach, who could possibly want to see him at this time? Had he done something wrong? Was it a teacher or another student? Before he could wonder any more, Scorpius spoke up on his behalf.

"Who is it?" he asked and before leaving, Finlay turned back to reply.

"His mother."

Albus dropped back onto his bed, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open, as a chorus of jeers went up all around him. Scorpius scolded the other boys until they quietened down and he put a hand on his friend's shoulder to reassure him.

"It'll be alright, mate, you don't even know why she's here." Scorpius whispered. Albus didn't flinch and spoke without moving his lips.

" _My mum._ " He mumbled, his eyes stuck wide open in horror.

"Potter!" Finlay yelled from out in the common room, "Don't keep her waiting!"

Albus jumped to life and slipped some jeans on, leaving Scorpius in the dormitory as the other fifth years started jeering him again. He rushed into the common room and past Finlay before stopping in his tracks. With her back to Albus, Ginny Potter was perched on the edge of an emerald, leather chair, wringing her hands nervously.

"Mum." Albus squeaked and she turned around to face him. The warm smile on her face calmed his nerves at once. He had seen his mother angry often enough to know that she wasn't here to tell him off. Ginny's eyes darted around slightly, she was clearly very uncomfortable.

"Hi sweetheart," Ginny replied, pulling Albus into a tight hug, "Do you mind if we go for a walk?"

Albus looked at her, a questioning look on his face.

"It's just, I don't feel too welcome in here." Ginny said, looking quickly around at the students gawking at her. Even Finlay was surveying the Potters with a suspicious look. Everyone was well aware who Ginny Potter was and what house she had been in at Hogwarts. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't have even been able to get this far into the Slytherin common room but these were definitely not normal circumstances.

Albus led his mother out the stone passageway and up the flight of stairs into the main castle, relishing as the cool air returned around them and they were free from the lava pit that had once been the dungeons. They ascended into the Entrance Hall and Ginny led them past it and down one of the longer stone hallways of Hogwarts that housed several staff offices. As they passed Professor Rivers' office, Ginny spoke.

"Albus, I think you should know, your father sent me to talk to you."

"Why?" was all Albus could reply with, confused at why his dad hadn't come himself.

"We know…that you and Scorpius-"

"There's nothing to know, we're just good friends." Albus snapped back, far too defensively.

"I know, sweetheart, we're just concerned that you two haven't been acting like normal lately." Ginny replied and instantly regretted her choice of words as Albus let out a little noise of panic.

"I mean, you've been fighting more and less friendly than usual." She added hastily. Albus bit his lip to try and calm himself a little. He had spent the entire Christmas holiday distancing himself from his family to avoid having to talk about all this. He had wondered why his dad had been extra eager to know what had happened at Hogwarts that term. Albus supposed they had been talking about him in private. Behind his back. He supposed they had been having covert meetings to talk about their problem son. For a moment panic overwhelmed him. Could they have talked to Mr. Malfoy too? Is that why he had been eyeing Albus suspiciously on the Platform?

"I know how much he means to you, Albus." Ginny continued, "Perhaps more than you're willing to tell us. And that's okay. I just want you to be happy. You know that, don't you, Albus?" Ginny asked, stopping to face her son. As she gazed down at her boy on the cusp of adulthood, tears welled up in his eyes and he threw his arms around his mother. Ginny stroked his hair and held him tight, it pained her so much to see her son in turmoil like this.

" _Mum_." Albus sobbed into her shoulder as several portraits peered down at the two from their frame. Some darted into each other's frames to whisper excitedly; clearly revelling in the drama unfolding before them.

"I know, Albus, I know." Ginny cooed, kissing the top of his head as she did when he was a small boy.

" _Mum, I don't know what to do. I don't know._ " Albus mumbled, not lifting his head up.

"I'll tell you what to do. Be honest. Be brave. Like I know you can be." Ginny said, as Albus detached from her and looked up into her eyes, "There is nothing braver than being true to yourself, Albus. I have a feeling your heart has been telling you one thing and your head another?" Ginny asked and Albus nodded.

"How do I know which one is right?" he asked, rubbing his hands over his eyes to dry them.

"You don't. But if one of them is telling you to take a chance, it's probably the right one. Albus, if I hadn't taken a chance on your father all those years back…if I hadn't listened to my heart, I wouldn't have had you. Or your brother or your sister or this new baby." She added, patting her stomach.

"But what about…what will people say?" Albus groaned, thinking of the whispers that would spread around the Great Hall.

"Who gives a damn what people will say!" Ginny announced confidently, patting Albus on the shoulder, "The only thing that's important is what you think and how you feel. Everyone else can either accept it or go kiss a troll's club." She grinned and Albus smiled back.

"MUM!" Lily shrieked from the other end of the corridor, running at them with her arms outstretched. She barged past Albus, who was frantically dabbing at his eyes to hide the last remnants of tears. Ginny wrapped her arms around Lily.

"Mumwhyareyouherewhatishappening?" Lily asked, without taking a breath. Ginny smiled at her daughter.

"What are you doing here is the question? Not in trouble, I hope?" Ginny raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

"Not at all," Came Professor Longbottom's voice from behind Albus, "Lily was just telling me about an idea for pickling dragon eggs in a future class. She's been chewing my ear off all the way up from the Greenhouse, making me promise to think it over." Professor Longbottom chuckled and gave Ginny a hug, as Lily looked questioningly at her brother who was trying to avoid her gaze.

"Sounds like an interesting idea, but I'm sure you'd rather be off in the common room telling one of your friends about it." Ginny suggested and Lily tilted her head in half-agreement.

"I should be off," Ginny continued, "But not before Professor Longbottom here shows me his hidden supply of firewhisky in the greenhouses that he thinks no one knows about."

His mouth fell open in shock, but Ginny simply replied, "James.", and he nodded in understanding. James had a penchant for finding things that were hidden that their owners hoped wouldn't be found. Ginny hugged Lily and Albus once more, wished them goodnight, told them to write soon and that she would send them some scarves by owl and started off to the Greenhouses with Professor Longbottom.

From down the corridor they could hear the Professor ask, "But I thought you were pregnant?"

And Ginny reply with, "Just a pumpkin juice for me then, I suppose."

Lily stood for a moment, surveying Albus, as he shifted uncomfortably on the spot.

"Everything okay?" she asked. Albus gave a half-nod. "Have you been crying?" she inquired but didn't get an answer as Albus sped off away to the humid retreat of the dungeons.


	11. Frozen Wands

Albus stormed down the corridors of Hogwarts, his footsteps against the stone echoing all around. With every step he thought on his mother's advice. Be brave. Be true. Be honest. Could he really be all these things? Could he really tell Scorpius how he felt? Or rather, how he thought he felt. His mind was swimming with hypothetical scenarios and conversations as Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost, glided past him.

"Good evening, young Potter." The ghost called, giving a slight wave of his translucent hand before gliding through a nearby stone wall and disappearing. What Albus would give right now to be ghost, to be a spectator to all of this and not have to return to the dungeons. With that thought, Albus noticed that he was dragging his heels slightly and with a sigh quickened his pace.

Out the corner of his eye he could see various portraits gathering together in hushed whispers as he passed. Clearly gossip spread quick around Hogwarts, even through the portraiture. He heard one whisper his mother's name and another gasp but they quickly dispersed once Albus had shot them an icy glare. As he approached the stairwell leading down to the dungeons, Albus recognised the long, vomit coloured robes ascending the stairway towards him. For a moment he panicked and started to turn away in the opposite direction but it was too late.

"Mr Potter!" Professor Gideon called, rushing towards Albus, sweat coating his wrinkled forehead, "Good to see you again!"

Albus froze and turned back to face the Professor who had almost gotten him killed twice last semester through carelessness and reckless decisions. Albus took a deep breath, pushed the anxious swirling feeling into the pit of his stomach and met Professor Gideon's curious, frantic gaze.

"Professor…I didn't realise y-you were back." Albus stuttered, failing to calm his nerves.

"Ah, yes, nasty business that. Been interrogated by the Ministry more in the past month than in my entire life! I imagine you're feeling right as rain after that fall?" he asked, eyes darting around Albus but never landing on Albus' eyes for more than a few seconds.

"Madam Pomfrey can work miracles." Albus said, gritting his teeth.

"Quite right. Good work you did fixing the ceiling. Looks just like before!" Professor Gideon beamed, dabbing at his forehead with a dirty handkerchief.

"Actually, Professor McGonagall fixed it." Albus countered, wanting to run past the Professor and down to the security of the Slytherin dungeons. Just out of reach, Albus could see the air wavering slightly at the heat rising from below and at this moment he would happily be sweating it out with Scorpius down there.

"Remarkable woman she is! Bit stern but remarkable no less. Hm, I did have a favour to ask of you, Potter."

Albus felt his heart stop for a moment and he began shaking his head furiously and waving his arms around like he had no control of them.

"No, Professor. No offence but the last two favours you asked didn't exactly end well." Albus protested but Professor Gideon waved off his concerns just as he had previously done.

"Dear boy, I can assure you, you will come out of this unscathed and handsomely rewarded I might add!"

"I-" Albus began again but the Professor had already sidestepped him and was disappearing towards the Great Hall.

"My office, tomorrow evening, Potter. Come alone!" he added and Albus heaved a sigh of relief to be alone again but was completely frustrated at having been roped into another one of Gideon's dangerous plans. He wouldn't have enough time to send an owl to his parents and the Headmistress would just ask why he hadn't flat out refused. Perhaps he would ignore the Professor's last request and bring Scorpius along anyway. Maybe James too. After all, misery does love company. Albus sighed again and continued on down to the dungeons. The blast of hot air hit him immediately and he could already feel the sweat forming on the back of his neck. Each step down raised his body temperature and as he approached the stone passageway to the common room, Albus was sure that Finlay had completely failed in trying to reverse the failed heating charm. If anything, it seemed to be warming up even further. Albus wandered through the deserted common room and into the fifth year boys' dormitory, where everyone was laying on their beds in various stages of undress, desperately trying to keep cool against the stifling heat.

Scorpius was on his back on his bed with eyes pressed firmly closed, and the hanging curtains pulled mostly across. His hair was damp with sweat and his t-shirt soaked through and lifted slightly over his abdomen to allow any non-existent breeze to cool him down. Scorpius didn't open his eyes as Albus crept over to his own bed and slipped out of jeans. The heat was almost unbearable in the dormitories and the large glass windows had all fogged up completely so it felt positively like a sauna.

Albus sat on the edge of his bed and blew air up from his mouth to his forehead, using his bottom lip as a funnel. It was to little avail as the air that came out of his mouth was warm anyway. Over on the far bunk, a boy named Roger had his wand pointed at his shin and he was muttering something under his breath, a look of relief momentarily crossing his face as blue light trickled from the end of his wand. Albus looked around at the others and noticed that those who weren't trying to sleep through it were doing the same spell, with relative degrees of success. He glanced again to Scorpius, his mouth hanging open, almost panting against the hot air. Albus got to his feet and knelt on the edge of Scorpius' bed, without his friend stirring. He grabbed his wand from the bedside table and muttered ' _Glacius_ ' feeling his hand chill at once. Little intricate patterns of ice crystals wove their way up the handle of his wand and over the tip as a faint blue light hummed out of it. He pressed the tip of his wand to his temple and felt relieved almost immediately, it was as though a snowman were pressing his icy fingers along Albus' forehead, letting his brain cool down and he even noticed that his breath came out as a chilly mist. Reluctantly, he pulled the wand away from his own head, leaned down and pressed it to the middle of Scorpius' chest.

A look of unbridled pleasure crossed his face and his lips turned up into a little smile as Albus' freezing spell coursed through Scorpius' body. Albus lightly grazed his wand down Scorpius' chest and to his exposed stomach, for a moment wanting to dip it lower, but he thought better of it and traced his wand back up to Scorpius' forehead. The little beads of sweat above his eyebrows froze over into tiny bulbs of ice and Scorpius opened his eyes slowly to look at his friend, now leaning over him with his wand pressed against his head. Scorpius reached up and pressed his hand to Albus' cheek. His skin was cool and Albus pressed back against his hand. They held there for a moment, not moving, and Albus was thankful that Scorpius had pulled his curtains around his bed so that no one would be able to see them. As Albus was resting his face against Scorpius' hand, his wand slipped from place and the spell faded, leaving them both at the mercy of the unrelenting heat once more.

" _More._ " Scorpius whispered, almost begging, " _Please, Albus._ "

Albus cast him a lazy smile and placed his wand back on Scorpius' forehead, whispering the incantation more forcefully this time. The blue light trembled and flooded the entire bed, before entering Scorpius and chilling him once more. Without thought or hesitation, Albus lifted his left leg up and swung it over Scorpius' torso, straddling him. Scorpius was stunned for a second, feeling Albus' weight pressing down on his chest wasn't as uncomfortable as he would've thought and he decided to take his chance. Leaning up from where he lay, with Albus' wand still pressed to his forehead and still with the freezing spell coursing through his veins, he pressed his cold lips to Albus' and held him there for several long, pleasant minutes. Albus ran his free hand up the back of Scorpius' neck and grabbed a handful of his damp hair, pushing them closer together. Still tangled together but lips broken apart, Scorpius reached over and grabbed his own wand from where it lay next to him. He pressed his lips against the hollow of Albus' throat and whispered ' _Glacius',_ pressing his wand against the base of Albus' spine.

They shivered together for a moment, their bodies straining against one another, quickly cooling and leaving fine mist hanging around them.

It was a long, icy night in Scorpius' bunk.


	12. Cold Fingers on Warm Bodies

With an almighty sigh, Scorpius heaved himself up into a sitting position, disentangling himself from Albus.

"Where are you going?" Albus moaned, opening his eyes and looking around the dormitory blearily. It was almost entirely deserted and the glass surrounding them was still fogged up, making it hard to tell whether the sun had risen yet or not. Only one other boy was still in bed, Roger, the one who had given Albus the idea to use the freezing charm the night before.

"I said I'd meet Rose for breakfast in the Great Hall." Scorpius replied, pulling on a pair of jeans from his trunk under the bed. He caught sight of Albus frowning out the corner of his eye and turned back around to face him.

"Didn't I tell you?"

"No, you didn't." Albus huffed, wiping the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand. Scorpius reached over and stroked Albus' hair.

"I won't be long," he reassured him, "She just wanted to talk about stuff."

"Stuff?" Albus pouted, "You're not cheating on me are you?" He asked, with a wink.

"It's just breakfast." Scorpius insisted and Albus nodded, slightly disappointed that his cheeky comment went by unnoticed. Scorpius kicked his feet into his shoes, tied them and stood up. He turned back and surveyed the scene before him. A half-dressed Albus sprawled out on the sweat-drenched sheets. Scorpius crinkled his nose in disgust.

"What?" Albus barked.

"Oh…no, not you. I'm looking at the sheets. I'll have to wash them, they're foul." Scorpius explained as Albus propped himself up on his elbows.

"They're not that bad. I mean, they're not clean but…it's not like we did, well, no. But we did do…but not everything, so they're not-"

"Stop," Scorpius held up a hand to silence Albus' nervous babbling, "The sheets are covered in sweat from the heat. I reckon everyone else will have the same problem. If someone doesn't fix the temperature, this whole place will start smelling like sweaty socks pretty soon."

"Of course, sweat, yep. I thought you were talking about-"

"I know what you were thinking." Scorpius interrupted, "I'll be back before you know it."

As he was walking away, he added, "Perv."

"I heard that!" Albus called after him, to which Scorpius shouted back, "You were supposed to!"

The shouts woke up Roger, who jumped up with a great snort and didn't look best pleased.

* * *

The common room was similarly empty, but thankfully, much cooler than the dormitory. There were dozens of strings of ice crystals dangling from the ceiling, all in various stages of melting. Over in the far corner, Finlay stood with his wand over his head, muttering to himself.

"Everything okay, Finlay?" Scorpius called over. Finlay's head snapped around in Scorpius' direction, his eyes wild.

"Oh, yeah, everything's just fine." He replied, his voice a little shaky. He mumbled a spell under his breath and another string of ice crystals grew out of the tip of his wand, extending up towards the ceiling where they latched on. Finlay shook his wand free from the ice and dropped his arm to his side, his shoulders hunching.

"Get much sleep?" Scorpius asked as Finlay slid into a nearby chair.

"Sleep? No, not really. Been up all night trying to keep it cool in here. Course they only last about 20 minutes, so I have to keep making more." Finlay mumbled, his eyelids drooping. Scorpius watched for a few moments as Finlay's eyelids bounced up and down as he desperately tried to keep himself awake.

"Hang on there a moment." Scorpius told him, before darting back into the dormitory. Roger had lay back down on his bed, with his pillow stuffed over his head. Over in the corner, Albus was stood up by the fogged-up glass, his back to the door. Scorpius approached slowly and saw that Albus was drawing on the glass with his finger, his wand stowed in the waistband of his boxers.

"What are you writing?" Scorpius asked and Albus jumped with fright. His hand flew up to the glass and smeared away the words he had been tracing through the condensation. Albus spun around on his heels.

"Back already? I thought she'd definitely be chewing your ear off for a good hour." Albus said.

"No, no, I haven't gone up yet. I didn't make it past the common room. I need your help." Scorpius explained. Albus raised a suspicious eyebrow.

"With what? Something fun?" Albus grinned, reaching out and grabbing Scorpius' hand.

"Nothing like that. I need you to help Finlay. He's exhausted and needs someone to take over with the spells in the common room." Scorpius detailed, patting Albus' hand as he did.

"Spells? What spells? Did he fix the heat charm?"

"No, think more…counter-measures!" Scorpius tugged on Albus' hand and lead him out of the dormitory into the common room, where Finlay was still trying to keep himself awake.

"Finlay, I have an idea. Albus can take over with the ice while you get some sleep." Scorpius suggested, letting go of Albus' hand as Finlay looked up at the two of them.

"Mate, are you alright? You don't look so good." Albus mused and Finlay furrowed his brow in annoyance. He got unsteadily to his feet and tried to shake the exhaustion from his limbs.

"You don't mind?" Finlay asked, stifling a yawn. Albus shrugged and pulled his wand from his boxer shorts to Finlay's astonishment.

"You really shouldn't keep your wand there." he scolded, "What if you blow off something important?"

Albus rolled his eyes in protest.

"Never mind that, what do you need me to do? Make more of those ice things?" Albus asked, signalling up towards the rapidly melting strings of frozen crystals. One just above their heads had started to drip water down and a droplet of cool water landed on Scorpius' shoulder.

"If you don't mind. It's not too difficult once you get the hang of it. You know how to do a freezing charm?" Finlay asked. Albus nodded enthusiastically, remembering the night before and felt a smirk creep across his lips. He had the sudden desire to grab Scorpius' hand but thought better of it, considering present company.

"Great," said Finlay, a little confused by Albus' grin, "Well, this isn't much different. The incantation is 'Glacius Vinculum'…got it? Good. Visualise the chains like I've made and try not to flick your wand too much. Wait until the chain hits the ceiling before you start another one, okay?"

Albus nodded, doing his best to try and understand all of Finlay's instructions. He held his wand out above his head, pointed it at an ice-less spot of the ceiling and muttered 'Glacius Vinculum'.

His wand tip flashed a pearly white light, but no ice emerged. He tried again and again, to no avail.

"You sure you've done a freezing charm before?" Finlay asked, his eyes were narrowed in suspicion. Scorpius placed a reassuring hand on Albus' shoulder as he raised his wand over his head again.

"Glacius Vinculum." he repeated the incantation, and this time his wand shot out a jet of blue light, leaving a thin web of ice crystals in its wake. The ice wove tendrils out of his wand, wrapping around each other and reaching upwards towards the ceiling. Albus held his wand there for a few moments, concentrating on the ice holding together. The crystals were rougher and much less polished than Finlay's own, but they vaguely resembled the others clinging to the common room ceiling. When at last it seemed the ice had touched the stone above, Albus shook his wand a little, disconnecting the ice from it.

He knew he'd made a mistake almost immediately from the mix of shock and bemusement crossing Finlay's weary face. The ice fell and crashed on Albus' head with a rather dull thud. Scorpius brushed some of the shattered crystals from Albus' shoulders, trying to contain his laughter.

"I told you." Finlay said, "Wait until it touches the ceiling before moving on. You have to make sure it's got a good grip."

"Will you be alright trying again on your own?" Scorpius asked, aware of the time and imagining Rose sitting alone in the Great Hall.

"Sure." Albus huffed, wiping the melting ice shards from his face. He pointed his wand up at the ceiling once more, muttered the incantation and watched as the ice grew upwards, stronger this time. Waiting as it latched onto the stone, Albus shook his wand free and slowly lowered his arm, amazed that the crystals were holding in place.

"I knew you could do it." Scorpius whispered, squeezing Albus' hand before dashing off out of the stone passageway, down the corridor and up the stairs into the school proper.

* * *

The Great Hall was sparsely populated at this time of the morning. Most students didn't wake up early enough for breakfast on Sundays and instead waited until lunchtime to eat. Nevertheless, Rose Weasley was sitting over at the Gryffindor table, with a copy of the Daily Prophet propped open and a half-eaten plate of eggs. As Scorpius approached her, he could see that she was intently reading from the newspaper, silently mouthing the words as she went.

"Morning Rose." Scorpius called. Rose jumped a little - she had clearly been deep in thought - and looked around before spotting Scorpius. She folded the paper over and waved.

"Mind if I take a seat?" Scorpius asked, gesturing towards the bench opposite Rose. She nodded in approval.

"Unless you'd rather we sit over there." Rose tilted her head in the direction of the Slytherin table as Scorpius slid onto the bench.

"Not really, here's fine. Is there a problem with our table?" Scorpius had noticed how Rose's tone had changed when she referred to the Slytherin section of the Great Hall.

"Well, not that I know of. But, you never know, there could always been some anti-Gryffindor hex on the benches!" she protested. Scorpius shook his head dismissively.

"We haven't got around to hexing the benches just yet." he added. Rose's eyebrows flew up in shock and her jaw fell slack. "It's a joke. Just a joke." Scorpius clarified.

Rose let out a little nervous giggle and patted Scorpius on the arm.

"Sorry. Usually jokes are funny. You can see how I got confused." she chided playfully.

"I didn't know the Prophet came on Sundays." Scorpius noted, trying to steer the topic of conversation away from his sense of humour, or rather, lack of.

"Oh yeah, Sunday Prophet. The owls dropped them off early this morning. Mum says it's good to keep up-to-date with current events. Nothing particularly interesting in it though." Rose mused absent-mindedly. Her fingers traced over the front page of the Sunday Prophet, dancing over a moving photo of two witches grinning broadly and holding up a shimmering cup between them.

"You looked pretty interested in it." Scorpius asked, remembering how Rose had been completely lost in thought when he arrived. She looked up from the front page.

"That's right. There's a feature on Albus' Dad in here. My parents sent an owl last week telling me to look out for it. Bit of a daft move putting it in the Sunday Prophet when next to no one reads them on Sundays. Here, look." Rose had opened the Prophet to the page she was reading. She turned the paper around and pointed to a half-page article entitled:

 _ **Heroes of Hogwarts: Volume 1**_

 _ **Harry Potter**_

"It's some anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts so they're putting out a feature every week on a different witch or wizard who helped win the war." Rose explained as Scorpius scanned the text.

"It's always some anniversary of that." Scorpius muttered.

To the right of the article was a photo of Harry Potter in his office at the Ministry, arms folded across his chest and grinning broadly.

"He looks just like Albus." Scorpius mumbled to himself and Rose smiled.

"He does." she agreed, "He's rather handsome, don't you think?"

Scorpius didn't look up from the photo, still staring intently at the photo of Albus' father. There was a certain quiet power that emanated from Harry Potter, even in a photograph. He had the same dazzling green eyes as Albus, although Albus' seemed more hopeful.

"Scorpius? Don't you agree?" Rose prompted.

"Oh yes, quite. Wait…were you referring to Mr Potter or Albus?" Scorpius asked, feeling his cheeks turn a deep scarlet.

"The interpretation's up to you. But you said 'yes' anyway." Rose smirked, content with her vague answer.

"Oh, give over! Who are you? The patron saint of Ravenclaw? Asking confusing riddles." Scorpius grumbled, pushing the paper back towards Rose. She folded it over once more and crossed her arms, satisfied.

"A question is a question until it's answered." she offered, "I heard a seventh year Ravenclaw say that. Bit stupid if you ask me. A question is still a question, even when you've got the answer but I suppose it's served its purpose once you have the answer. It's not so much a question as a prelude to a statement. An introduction perhaps."

Scorpius shook his head in confusion.

"You should write for the Quibbler with that sort of wobbly logic."

"Great minds always go unappreciated in their time!" Rose declared with a dramatic flail of her arms.

"If that's true, why is your mum the Minister for Magic?"

Rose half-shrugged in defeat and placed her hand again on Scorpius' arm.

"So, how are you?" she asked.

"I'm fine." Scorpius replied slowly, looking suspiciously between the hand on his arm and Rose's strangely sympathetic look, "Why? Have you heard something?" he questioned. Scorpius could feel himself panicking. What could Rose possibly know? Had students been gossiping about him behind his back? Had she asked him to meet her so she could get all the details to go spread about the castle?

"I hear a lot of things." Rose answered serenely, "However, not a lot about you. That's why I was worried. You were the talk of the school last term between all the arguments and outbursts and Albus trying to fight anyone and everyone. We've been back for over a week now and I've barely seen you, let alone heard anyone mention you. I thought you could use a friend."

Scorpius nodded slowly and smiled in gratitude. Sure, Rose had a tendency to be overly judgemental and loved gossip, but her heart was in the right place.

"I'm…fine." Scorpius said again, "I've been trying not to get into so much trouble this term. Better to keep my head down and get on with things, isn't it?"

"Is it? I mean, you've always been so out there and the centre of attention-" Scorpius threw Rose an offended look, "Oh, I don't mean it like that! It's just there's always something going on. Some big adventure. With you and Albus."

Scorpius chewed on his lip. It was true that the years he'd been at Hogwarts hadn't exactly been uneventful. Even in his first few years, Albus was always off hunting down mythical gemstones or trying to interview centaurs. And, of course, he had always followed in the wake of his more outgoing friend.

"I suppose I'm just settling down."

"And everything's fine…with Albus?" Rose asked, she looked deeply concerned, as though she had heard something troubling had happened between Scorpius and Albus.

"Of course. Everything's fine. We're…friends." Scorpius responded, stumbling a little over the last word. Rose tilted her head slightly in contemplation.

"Friends?" she prodded.

"Good friends." Scorpius replied.

"Just good friends?" she prodded a little further.

"No…not just good friends. Great friends. Best friends, even." Scorpius added hastily. He was starting to feel frustrated with all these questions. Why should he have to define his friendship with Albus? Was it not enough for everyone that they weren't bickering anymore?

"Good, I'm glad." Rose smiled sweetly. Scorpius was a little shocked that she had given up her line of questioning so easily. It had seemed that she was trying to ask what exactly had been going on between the boys recently.

"So, how have you been?" Scorpius asked, after the pair had sat in silence for long enough.

"I've been fine, too. Very busy. Trying to keep up with all the homework we've been getting. I can't imagine I'll get nearly as many Outstandings in my O.W.L.s as Mum did, but I can at least hope for better than Dad. Homework keeping you busy too?" she asked.

"Like always."

The pair sat chatting about various homework assignments, with Rose declaring that her recent shortage of parchment was the worst thing to have ever happened to all of wizardkind. Rose then regaled Scorpius with tales of her Quidditch successes. She had, as predicted before the year began, made the Gryffindor team and done quite well in a recent test match against Ravenclaw. Scorpius didn't mention that he'd heard rumours of Gryffindor's Quidditch team being the weakest it had been in centuries. Scorpius told her about the heating charm gone awry in the Slytherin common room and dormitories and Rose mentioned that it had been getting warmer in the Gryffindor's quarters also. They discussed whether it was some malicious plot by an evil wizard gang, planning to destroy Hogwarts by melting the students. Scorpius ate some of Rose's leftover eggs while she told him that 'Glacius Totum' would be a better spell to use to cool down the Slytherin living area and she looked positively offended that Finlay hadn't already thought of using it. Scorpius made a mental note to try it out when he got back.

Off in the distance, the clock tower began chiming and interrupted Rose's speech about why shorter wands were more efficient than longer ones. Scorpius counted the chimes and noted that it was eleven o'clock.

"I have to go, I told Albus I wouldn't be gone too long."

"Well, best not to keep him waiting," Rose grabbed Scorpius hand and squeezed it, "It's been good talking to you."

Scorpius thanked her and dashed back off down towards the Slytherin dungeons. He paused for a moment before heading down the stone steps. It was definitely much hotter even around the Great Hall. Could the heat charm be seeping out into the rest of the castle? Why hadn't any of the teachers come to investigate?

Surely enough, when Scorpius descended the stairs, he felt the blast of heat hit him even more intensely than before he had left and found little, old Professor Flitwick just outside of the entrance to the Slytherin common room, waving his wand elaborately in the air. Professor Flitwick was the Charms professor and had once been Head of Ravenclaw, before turning over the position to Professor Rivers a few years ago. Flitwick looked extremely flustered and as he crept by the teacher, Scorpius heard him muttering,

"Honestly, a heating charm. And getting me all the way down here in the dungeons just to fix it!"

Scorpius dashed down the stone passageway to escape Flitwick's squeaky protests and indignant ramblings. Inside the common room was almost unbearable. The air was thick and heavy and there was now a slight haze in the air. Over in the corner, slumped in an armchair was Albus. He was soaked through and looked worn out.

"Oh, you're back!" he called out cheerily to Scorpius, waving him over, "Not as bad as it looks, once you stop moving."

"How did you get on with the freezing charm?" Scorpius asked, dropping into a nearby chair and pointing up to the almost completely melted icicles hanging from the ceiling. There were far less there than when Scorpius had left.

"I gave up about a half hour ago. Or maybe an hour. I can't remember with this heat. How long were you gone?" Albus asked, running a hand through his damp hair.

"It's eleven now." Scorpius said.

"Then I gave up a long time ago. It was a losing battle, the ice just melted the second it came out of my wand. No point really. Might as well just sit here and wait to die." Albus chuckled darkly.

"Well, the ones you made look good." Scorpius offered but Albus waved his hand in front of himself.

"If I told you I had a win-lose ratio of 10 to 90, would you think badly of me?"

"Not in the slightest. You tried. And that's all that matters to me." Scorpius concluded, grabbing Albus' hand and intertwining their fingers together.

"Your hand is cold." Albus moaned, leaning his head back, eyes closed and smiling.

"Yeah?" Scorpius felt himself smiling too, and looked around to make sure the common room was empty before pulling his hand free and sliding it under Albus' t-shirt. He pressed his cool fingers into the soft flesh of Albus' torso. They sat for a few moments as Scorpius drew his fingers over Albus' chest and stomach, eliciting a moan every time he touched a particularly warm part of Albus' body.

"Oh!" Scorpius exclaimed, pulling his hand out from under Albus' t-shirt and taking his wand out of his pocket.

"Oi!" Albus complained, eyes flicking open, "I was enjoying that!"

"Another time." Scorpius promised as he got up out of his chair, trying to ignore Albus muttering under his breath.

"Rose gave me an idea of what to do." Scorpius explained. Albus furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Rose told you to do that?" Albus asked, referring to what had just happened.

"No, no. I came up with that all on my own." Scorpius replied, winking at Albus, "She told me a better spell we could try."

"Should I go get Finlay?" Albus asked, sliding further upright in his arm chair.

"No, let him sleep. It probably won't work anyway." Scorpius held his wand out in front of himself, not pointing at anything in particular and remembered the incantation Rose had told him, "Glacius Totum."

A wave of white light rushed out of Scorpius' wand in all directions, flooding the common room. Both of the boys shivered as it passed through them and they even heard shouts of approval from the dormitories as the light went through the stone walls. Scorpius stood still for a moment, enjoying the cold flooding through his body. Not a moment later, the heat returned, somehow worse than before.

"It didn't work!" Scorpius yelled, jamming his wand back into his pocket.

"Oh, Merlin! Scorp, we have to go, it's getting worse. My eyes are watering." Albus declared as he jumped to his feet. Students began rushing out of the dormitories and piling towards the stone passageway. Flitwick's voice drifted in from outside,

"Come on now, children. Hurry up, into the castle. Quickly, quickly!" he squeaked from outside. Albus and Scorpius joined the rush of students heading out and they caught sight of a rather disgruntled Finlay, herding students in the right direction and checking everyone was out.

* * *

Professor Flitwick lead the students up to the Great Hall and placed a barrier charm in front of the staircase, so no one accidentally wandered down into the sweltering depths. The Slytherins were glad to gather in the cool, drafty Great Hall. Some were sprawled out on the benches of the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables. Scorpius looked around when they entered but there was no sign of Rose, she must've gone back to Gryffindor tower shortly after he left.

"Settle down, everyone!" Professor McGonagall called as she strode into the Great Hall, looking very flustered, "Get up off those benches! Potter, for heaven's sake! Where are your trousers?" McGonagall exclaimed, exasperated. Albus tried pulling his t-shirt down to cover his legs.

"They're in the dormitory, Professor. I didn't realise we would be evacuated and I didn't have enough-" Albus began.

"Yes, yes, alright. We should have your trunks up here soon enough. Make sure you get yourself fully dressed when they do arrive. And that goes for all of you, I don't care to have my eyes assaulted by your bare bodies!"

McGonagall marched to the staff table at the head of the Great Hall and began conversing rather animatedly with several other staff members, including Professor Flitwick, who looked very relieved to be away from the heat.

"I wish I'd grabbed some jeans…or shoes!" Albus complained, trying even more to cover up his bare legs.

"I think you look lovely! Why not show off your legs?" Thorne teased from opposite Albus, falling into laughter with some other Slytherin boys.

"Don't listen to him," Scorpius whispered, "You heard McGonagall, they'll have our trunks up any minute."

Surely enough, stacks of trunks appeared all around the tables and Albus rushed to grab his from the other end of the Gryffindor table. The staff must've asked the House Elves to brave the heat and apparate all the trunks out. Albus came back, zipping up his jeans with one hand and carrying his trunk in the other. He dropped his trunk down on the table and landed hard on the bench next to Scorpius.

"No shoes," Albus said, slipping on a pair of red socks, "I didn't leave them anywhere near the trunk so they must've missed them. Either that or they burst into flames?"

Scorpius chuckled to himself at the thought of Albus' shoes burning alive down in the Slytherin dungeons.

"Probably melted," Scorpius joked, "If you were a better wizard, maybe you could summon them."

"Shut it, you!" Albus growled, although a half-smirk crossed his lips.

"Oi, Al! What's this I heard about you running around the castle naked?"

James Potter came striding up to his brother and Scorpius, looking thoroughly amused.

"I wasn't naked! I didn't have my trousers so we got rushed out…how did you hear about that so quickly?"

"I have my sources," James waved off his inside knowledge, "Never mind that, how are my two favourite Slytherins?" James asked. He knelt down between the pair and wrapped his arms tightly around each of their shoulders, a grin plastered on his face.

"We're fine." Albus replied curtly, "Better if you buggered off!"

James got back to his feet, a hand still on each of their shoulders.

"Watch it, just because your my brother doesn't mean I won't chuck you in detention!" James said sarcastically. Albus ignored his playful warning and shrugged off James' hand.

"Go away, you'll get us in trouble if you're hanging around!" Albus protested.

"Alright, I've got important Prefect business to be attending to anyway." James declared, patted Scorpius on the back, before turning dramatically on his heel and marching away in the opposite direction.

"Potter? James Potter! What are you doing in here?" Professor McGonagall called from the staff table.

"Nothing, Professor, important Prefect business!" James yelled back, dashing out of the Great Hall.

"What a nightmare!" Albus complained, laying his head down on the table.

"I think it's nice that he looks out for you." Scorpius offered, thinking on how he would've liked to have had an older brother at Hogwarts.

"You don't have to live with him all year!" came Albus' muffled voice.

"Neither do you! I live with you all year!" Scorpius countered and he thought he saw Albus smiling into the table.

As Scorpius thought on, he came to the conclusion that he'd quite like to live with Albus. Just the two of them in a small little house, close enough to both of their families that they could visit often. Scorpius couldn't imagine ever feeling lonely, even in a secluded little village, so long as Albus was by his side.


End file.
